Banged-Up Devils Host Predators Before Break

Preds

he NHL’s annual All-Star break commences with the completion of Thursday’s schedule, and it can’t arrive soon enough for the New Jersey Devils. Beset by a string of injuries recently and bending under the weight of two wins in their last 11 games (2-7-2), the Devils host the surging Nashville Predators Thursday night at the Prudential Center.

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State Representative Candidate Claims TBI Home Raid Was Politically Motivated

The townhome of Jeremy H. G. Hayes, candidate for State Representative for the 57th District, a seat currently held by Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet), was raided by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) on Tuesday morning, a move the candidate says was politically motivated. Four TBI agents came with a warrant to search his townhome, reportedly telling Hayes they have “Reason to believe you voted out of district in the last primary.” Simultaneously and without a warrant, three additional agents went to the home of Hayes’ grandmother, where Hayes tells The Tennessee Star he stays four to five nights a week to care for the 78-year old who suffers from multiple sclerosis and stage IV kidney failure. Lynn’s claim that Hayes, one of her challengers in the August Republican primary, lives out of the district has been going on for the better part of a year. She told The Star back in March 2017 about Hayes, “he doesn’t live in Wilson County nor in my district.” Hayes provided a digital photograph of his State of Tennessee driver’s license to The Star that shows an issue date of April 2017 and an expiration of April 2025, with a Mt. Juliet address, information that…

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Ralph Bristol Out at Cumulus Media’s SuperTalk 99.7 WTN

After an 11-year run as the host of  Nashville’s Morning News, broadcast giant Cumulus Media and Ralph Bristol have parted ways. Bristol posted a lengthy statement on his Facebook page: GOOD MORNING NASHVILLE, IT’S….OVER Cumulus Media terminated my employment today due to irreconcilable editorial differences. We cannot agree on what information and communications should be kept private and which should be hashed out publicly. Since I won’t abide by their rules, they will not abide by my continued employment. Please know first, I am not sad or angry. And I have nothing to fear, financially or otherwise. I’m free, happy and as blessed as ever. As I leave the radio, I want to thank a bunch of people, including, but not first, those who fired me, and it’s probably best that I didn’t do this on the air because you’ve heard enough of this particular grown man cry, and I tend to get emotional when I say nice things about people. I’d like to start by thanking my “Gang of Four,” Doogie Vance, Ken Weaver and Chris Weber, who along with me, have solved all of mankind’s important problems during a daily segment that started many years ago as a traffic…

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Trump Should Not Agree to Interview with Mueller, Legal Experts Say

President Donald Trump should not give special counsel Robert Mueller an interview in his investigation of allegations the chief executive’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russian interests to defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to multiple attorneys interviewed by LifeZette. Mueller recently interviewed Attorney General Jeff Sessions and has been in conversation with White House lawyers about…

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Nashville Metro Council Buries True Cost of $9 Billion Transit Plan

A PAC opposed to a $9 billion transit plan calls Nashville Metro Council’s vote Tuesday a “shameful” effort to pull the wool over the voter’s (sic) eyes.” NoTax4Tracks made the statement in a press release in response to Metro Council voting 21-14 not to accept an amendment to the light rail transit plan that would have shown the $9 billion cost on the May 1 ballot. The Tennessee Star broke the latest story on Mayor Megan Barry’s plan Wednesday morning. Once the amendment failed, the council voted on the Barry administration’s favored language for the referendum, citing a price tag of just over $5.3 billion. The council voted 30-6, with three not voting, to create the ballot language. The third and final reading will be Feb. 6. NoTax4Tracks said, “We know the city and the pro-light rail groups leaned hard on council members today. They did so because their own polling and political advisors told them that if Cooper’s amendment passed, their entire plan was in big trouble. So, they laid the wood to the council. It’s clear, they’ll do just about anything to win.” Council member John Cooper proposed the ballot language for the city’s Transit Improvement Plan be open and transparent…

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Mark Norris Continues His Duties in the State Senate as He Awaits Confirmation by the US Senate to the Federal Bench

While State Senator and Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-Collierville) is awaiting US Senate confirmation to become the next United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee, he will continue to serve his constituents in state Senate district 32. “I’m not going to resign the seat which my constituents have elected me or this leadership for which you elected me.” Norris told the Tennessean. “It’s very constructive to be crucified for the sins of others, to see what other people who demonize us say about us and how they see us.” Mark Norris was tapped by the Trump Administration in July 2017 to fill the federal judgeship that was vacated a few months prior in March. “I am honored by the nomination and appreciate the President’s confidence in me,” he said at the time. “This is just the first step under the Constitution, and I look forward to the Senate confirmation process. In the meantime, I will continue to serve the citizens of the 32nd District who elected me to the Senate and my Senate colleagues who elected me as their Leader.” Five months later, Norris’ judicial nomination was supported by a 11-9 party-line vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee at the…

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Media Networks Ignore FBI’s Missing Texts from Anti-Trump Agents

ABC News, CBS News and NBC News largely ignored revelations that the FBI “failed to preserve” five months’ worth of text messages between two anti-Trump employees during their Monday and Tuesday broadcasts, according to reports from the Media Research Center (MRC). The three networks failed to cover the missing trove of text messages between Peter Strzok…

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Commentary: College Professor Debunks 4 Common Capitalism Myths He Hears from Students Every Day

by James Davenport   One of the most disappointing things I face as a college professor is the lack of understanding most students have regarding capitalism. The simple fact is, despite its importance to our daily lives, relatively few people have a strong grasp of what causes economic growth and why markets are so central to continuously rising standards of living. In my teaching, I have encountered several myths or misperceptions about capitalism from students as well as individuals outside the classroom. Dispelling these myths has become a focus of much of my teaching. Myth #1: Capitalism Was “Created” One of the most pervasive misunderstandings about capitalism is the idea that it was created by someone. Some of this can be attributed to the language used to describe Adam Smith’s role in explaining the market process. The common reference to Smith as “the father of modern economics” can lead people to assume that he in some way created the market system. It is also not unreasonable to conclude that, since socialism is generally reliant on planning, many would assume that capitalism is as well. However, as Friedrich Hayek explained, the market system is not really “created” as much as it is…

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New Batch of US-backed Forces Finish Border Training in Northern Syria

The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria concluded a training course for 500 members of the Syrian Democratic Forces this week. The goal is to prepare them to protect their borders after the removal of IS in northern Syria. Without giving a timetable, Kurdish commanders at the training camp in the northern Syrian city of Hasakah told VOA the new graduates will join a 30,000-strong border army that the coalition announced it would form last week.

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Report: ‘At Least’ One Middle East/Southeast Asia Refugee Rejected By Australia To Be Resettled in Knoxville

At least one of the 600 Manus Island, New Guinea refugees rejected by Australia is scheduled to arrive in Knoxville for resettlement, the Australian news outlet SBS News reported on Wednesday. “Since 2013, Australia has paid Papua New Guinea, its closest neighbor, to house hundreds of migrants caught at sea while trying to reach the continent,” The New York Times reported in November. “About 600 migrants, all men, and mostly from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, remain at the center [on Manus Island]. Most of them have sought status as refugees or asylum seekers,” The Times noted. Now, many of these refugees rejected by Australia are coming to the United States, and one is headed to Knoxville. “American officials said dozens if not hundreds of refugees from Manus and Nauru would be accepted in the coming weeks and months. About 50 men already moved to the United States in September under a deal brokered by former President Barack Obama,” The Times noted last year. SBS News reported on Wednesday that dozens of refugees–all men–are currently heading for the United States to at least five cities: Knoxville, Tennessee; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, New Jersey; Atlanta, Georgia, and somewhere in North Carolina. Through a complex arrangement of refugee resettlement efforts, a 22-year-old man named Sajid Hussain will arrive in Knoxville…

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