‘Cool Papa’ Bell, a Starkville native, honored by his hometown at Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Legendary pitcher Satchel Paige is credited with the often-told line, “Cool Papa Bell was so fast he could turn off the light switch in his hotel room and be under the covers before the room got dark.”

Bell never played in “white” Major League Baseball, as he was well into his 40s when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Although Negro League records are somewhat spotty (his career batting average is said to be .331, plus he hit .391 in exhibitions against white teams), what’s not as much in dispute is that no one was faster – regardless of color – in the sport’s history.

“Let me tell you about Cool Papa Bell,” Paige was also quoted as saying. “One time he hit a line drive right by my ear. I turned around and saw the ball hit his rear end as he slid into second base.”

That quote now adorns the wall of a concourse at Dudy Noble Field, home ballpark of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. It is part of a display that honors Bell, as the university dedicated that area of the park as “Cool Papa” Bell Plaza prior to their 5-4 win over Missouri on May 13.

Bank of America to raise minimum wage to $25/hr by 2025

NEW YORK — Bank of America plans to set the minimum wage for all positions at the company to $25 an hour by 2025.

It would be the highest minimum wage paid by a big bank and could pressure rivals to follow suit. Wages have been rising at major banks in recent years amid pressure from outside groups to address wealth inequality.

The bank will also mandate that vendors it does business with pay their employees at least $15 an hour. The bank says 99% of its vendors are already in compliance at that level.

Bank of America raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2017, to $17 an hour in 2019, and to $20 an hour last year, all under CEO Brian Moynihan.

The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has more than 210,000 employees.

Increasing the minimum wage across all industries has been a push by Democrats for several years. President Joe Biden campaigned on raising the Federal minimum wage to $15 an hour from its current level of $7.25. The proposal did not make it into the $1.9 trillion economic relief package that passed earlier this year, but Democrats have pledged to push for a minimum wage increase in a bill later this year.

ESPN, ABC set college football game times for marquee matchups during Week 1

The return of college football is still more than two months away, but that doesn't mean fans can't start planning for opening weekend and a slew of big games that will be kicking off across the season.

ESPN on Tuesday announced times for some of the top matchups this year, led by four games that will take place on Labor Day weekend.

Clemson facing Georgia headlines the Week 1 slate on Sept. 4 with a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC. The non-conference game will be played on neutral ground at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both the Tigers and Bulldogs are expected to be College Football Playoff contenders, so the winner of the game gets a major resume-boost ahead of the conference schedule.

Discovery Extends CEO David Zaslav’s Contract Through 2027

Discovery announced Tuesday it’s extended the employment contract of president and CEO David Zaslav employment contract through December 31, 2027. His previous contract ran through 2023.

The extension was made in connection with the definitive agreement between AT&T and Discovery, Inc. to combine WarnerMedia’s entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery to create a new standalone entertainment company.

Zaslav will lead the proposed new company.

Its a new phase for Discovery, which, under Zaslav’s lead, began trading as a public company in 2008 (he joined in 2007 from NBCUniversal) and became a Fortune 500 company in 2014.

Discovery 15 million global subscribers, led by recently rolled out discovery+ which continues its rollout to more than 25 markets.

Under Zaslav, Discovery acquired Scripps Networks Interactive, in a transaction which closed in 2018.

Discovery today comprises nearly 20% of ad-supported pay-TV viewership in the U.S. and nearly 7 billion monthly video views.

The company’s global distribution platform has, under Zaslav’s leadership, expanded to 3 billion cumulative worldwide viewers with a diverse set of brands, creating an unmatched international portfolio for viewers, advertisers and distributors.

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2022 Toyota Tundra pickup teased in electrifying image

Fox News Autos Test Drive: 2021 Toyota Rav4 Prime

The 2021 Toyota Rav4 Prime is the first plug-in hybrid version of the compact SUV and Fox News Autos Editor Gary Gastelu says it may be the best of the bunch.

Toyota is finally shining some light on its next generation pickup.

The automaker has confirmed that the all-new 2022 Tundra will be revealed “soon.”

The full size truck has not been fully redesigned since 2008.

Toyota released a teaser image with the announcement that shows the front of the truck with a dazzling lighting display that includes amber marker lights, fog lights and an LED light strip in the grille.

2022 Toyota Tundra teaser
(Toyota)

This is the first time Toyota has confirmed the vehicle is on the way and no technical details have been released.

However, speculation is that the Texas-built truck will offer a hybrid powertrain in keeping with the rest of the Toyota lineup, which would pit it directly against the Ford F-150 PowerBoost.

The Tundra is typically the fourth best-selling full size truck in the U.S. at around 110K-120K units annually, which is all its factory is capable of producing, and has the highest resale value, according to Kelly Blue Book.