New Poll on Nashville Mayoral Election Shows David Briley Below 50 Percent, Carol Swain in Second Place

A new Tennessee Star Poll first reported by host Brian Wilson on 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News on Monday morning shows that Acting Mayor David Briley has a large lead over former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain, who is currently a distant second, but that he is substantially below the 50 percent mark he needs to reach in the May 24 election to avoid a runoff election. When asked “If the election was held today, who would be your choice for Mayor of Nashville?” poll respondents answered as follows: 43 percent said Acting Mayor David Briley 9 percent said former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain 7 percent said former radio talk show host Ralph Bristol 5 percent said Metro Council Member At-Large Erica Gilmore 3 percent said State Rep. Harold Love 1 percent said Jeff Obafemi Carr 32 percent said they were undecided The Tennessee Star Poll of 607 likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County was conducted by Triton Research over a two day period between Thursday, April 12 and Friday, April 13 in an automated telephone (IVR) survey and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. If no candidate has more than 50 percent of the vote on May…

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Diane Black and State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver Urge Appeal of 10th Amendment Lawsuit Against Federal Refugee Resettlement Program

Diane Black & Terri Lynn Weaver

One year after Tennessee filed suit in federal court challenging the commandeering of state revenue by the federal government to fund its refugee resettlement program, Judge Stanley Thomas Anderson, ignored plaintiffs’ request for a hearing and dismissed the case. The court’s decision did not reach the substantive Tenth Amendment issue ruling instead that the state lacked legal standing to sue. Anderson was appointed to the court by George W. Bush in 2008 and became Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in 2017. GOP Gubernatorial Diane Black and State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, a named plaintiff in the suit have said unequivocally that Tennessee should appeal the court’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a non-profit public interest law firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of Tennessee and the legislature at no  cost to the state or taxpayers.  Mr. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the TMLC has already indicated that the court’s decision “is filled with appealable issues” and that his firm is prepared to continue its representation pro bono and appeal the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary:…

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Tennessee Star Poll: Nashville/Davidson County Voters Oppose Transit Plan by 2 to 1 Margin

A new poll first reported on Monday morning by Brian Wilson, host of 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News, shows that likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County oppose the proposed $9 billion transit plan on the May 1 ballot by more than a 2 to 1 margin, 62 percent against to 28 percent in favor, with only 10 percent undecided. The Tennessee Star Poll of 607 likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County was conducted by Triton Research over a two day period between Thursday, April 12 and Friday, April 13 in an automated telephone (IVR) survey and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. When asked “If the election was held today, would you vote for or against the $9 billion Transit Plan and Tax?” poll respondents answered as follows: 62.4 percent said “Against the Transit Plan” 27.9 percent said “For the Transit Plan” 9.7 percent said “Don’t Know/Not sure” Voter interest in the May 1 Davidson County primary election and the referendum on the transit tax was high among the 607 poll respondents, all of whom were registered voters residing in Davidson County. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they “always vote,” 20 percent said they were “very…

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WTN’s Brian Wilson to Break Story with Results of Poll on Nashville Transit Plan at 7:05 AM This Morning

Brian Wilson, host of 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News, will break a story on the results of a new Tennessee Star Poll on the Nashville Transit Plan that is on the May 1 ballot for approval or rejection by Nashville/Davidson County voters at 7:05 a.m. this morning, Monday April 16. You can listen to today’s broadcast of Nashville’s Morning News here. The Tennessee Star has provided these results to Wilson on an exclusive basis prior to the publication of the full details of the poll in The Star at 7:30 am. The Tennessee Star Poll, conducted over a two day period between April 12 and April 13, will be the first poll to give details of attitudes among likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County about the merits of the $9 billion transit plan whose fate they will determine at the ballot box on May 1. The long, twisting road to the May 1 Nashville/Davidson County voter referendum began in January of 2017, when Gov. Bill Haslam introduced the IMPROVE Act to purportedly fund road construction in the state by increasing the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon and the diesel fuel tax by 10 cents per gallon. Tucked away…

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Family Farm Could Face Prison for Calling Skim Milk by Its Name

Dairy Cow

by John-Michael Seibler   Forget narcotics. Uncle Sam has a new substance to crack down on: all-natural skim milk. Food and Drug Administration regulations make it a federal crime for dairy farmers to call all-natural skim milk exactly what it is – skim milk. Instead, the FDA demands that farmers label additive-free skim milk as “imitation milk product,” because, in the FDA’s mind, skim milk just isn’t the real thing. The FDA’s finicky rules are not going unchallenged, however. Attorneys with the Institute for Justice are challenging those rules on behalf of a dairy farmer, Randy Sowers, who wants to sell all-natural products and label them honestly, without the threat of fines or imprisonment. Randy and Karen Sowers founded their South Mountain Creamery in Maryland on rented land back in 1981. They took out a loan and bought 100 cows. Today, three generations of Sowers work on their family’s 2,200 acre farm. They have more than 600 cattle, plus 16,000 chickens. Their family employs more than 75 people. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution.  Find out more >> They also believe in keeping their products additive-free. Naturally, they would like to…

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State Rep. William Lamberth Passes Bill That Prohibits Use of Consular Cards for Identification in Tennessee

State Rep William Lamberth

Passing his bill with a vote of 72-23 and one abstention, Rep William Lamberth (R-Cottontown) offered a compelling argument that consular cards were not designed nor intended to be used in this country for identification purposes by people legally in this country and his bill would prevent Tennessee from following the example of other states that have chosen to accept consular cards as a valid form of identification: I humbly think our citizens should be safer and in a better position than any other state in the union. Lamberth, a former Sumner County prosecutor, explained that some states have chosen to accept consular cards as a valid form of identification even though the cards were not designed or intended for that purpose. During hearings on Lamberth’s bill in the House State Government Committee, a representative from the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), confirmed that consular cards issued by foreign consulate offices, are used by foreign governments to locate its nationals who are in the U.S. and in some instances, collect taxes from them. In their testimony opposing Lamberth’s bill, the co-Directors of TIRRC admitted that immigrants who primarily rely on consular cards are “people who do not have immigration…

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Three Student Journalists Sue University for Covering Up Teacher’s Role in Anti-Trump Campus Rally

by Kyle Perisic   Three student journalists have filed a lawsuit against their Illinois university and an instructor, alleging that the teacher grabbed and broke a smartphone as they tried to report on an anti-Trump rally. The three students’ federal suit against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and instructor Tariq Khan says that the university got a restraining order preventing them from reporting on Khan’s involvement in the November protest against President Donald Trump. Khan, 39, was charged with destruction of property after taking and smashing a student’s smartphone on the pavement, an action caught on video. The suit contends that the instructor and university officials violated the students’ constitutional rights to free press, free speech, and due process, according to the law firm representing the students, Mauck & Baker, LLC. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution.  Find out more >> “The First Amendment should not be a partisan issue or something only conservatives are willing to defend,” the law firm said in a formal statement. The suit claims that the school punished freshmen Joel Valdez and Blair Nelson and senior Andrew Minik for reporting on the anti-Trump rally, the…

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Tennessee Atty Gen Hebert Slatery Withdraws from District Attorneys’ Case Against Opioid Manufacturers

Tennessee Star

A conflict brewing between state and local prosecutors over a slew of lawsuits filed against drug manufacturers ended Thursday as Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery abruptly terminated any role his office might play in the legal actions by those jurisdictions seeking to recover costs associated to the opioid crisis. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s move was carried out in Campbell County Circuit Court in front of Judge John McAffey. During proceedings, a representative from the Attorney General’s office read a statement culminating in the handover of a signed order that reflected the understanding that the state would not be involved in the suits, nor would the District Attorneys would not try to legally commit the state to their lawsuit against opiate makers and distributors. “The proposed order results from our joint commitment to the people of Tennessee and recognizes that state and local cooperation is essential to combat the opioid epidemic ravaging our state,” Knoxville News Sentinel reported the statement read. Attorney J. Gerard Stranch IV also submitted to Judge McAfee an order in which the DAs he represents agree they will not try to legally commit the state to their lawsuit against opiate makers and distributors.…

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Commentary: A Half-Century Later, Cities Still Suffer the Economic Effects of the 1968 Riots Sparked by Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination

by Joe Carter   This month marks the 50th anniversary of the riots that began in 1968 after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The riots—sometimes referred to as the Holy Week Uprising or King assassination riots – spread through 110 cities across the United States. As historian Peter B. Levy notes: Fifty-four cities suffered at least $100,000 in property damage, with the nation’s capital and Baltimore topping the list at approximately $15 million and $12 million, respectively. Thousands of small shopkeepers saw their life savings go up in smoke. Combined, 43 men and women were killed, approximately 3,500 were injured, and 27,000 were arrested. Not until over 58,000 National Guardsmen and army troops joined local state and police forces did the uprisings cease. Put somewhat differently, during Holy Week 1968, the United States experienced its greatest wave of social unrest since the Civil War. From 1964 to 1971, as many as 700 riots erupted in cities across America. The large numbers of injuries, deaths, property damage that occurred in predominantly black neighborhoods caused considerable short-term damage on the communities. But the impact over the long run (from 1960 to 1980) was even more severe. In 2004, the National Bureau…

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‘Bratz’ Billionaire Makes Surprise Bid for Toys R Us, Wants to Turn Stores Into Mini-Disneys

There’s still a chance there may be future generations of Toys R Us kids. Billionaire CEO Isaac Larian announced on Friday that he has put in a formal bid of $675 million to buy a number of the company’s U.S stores, as well as $215 million to buy the locations in Canada. He will use his own money, funds from additional investors and bank financing to make the purchase, according to a news release. Larian, who owns MGA Entertainment which is best known for producing toys such as Bratz dolls, said in the release that the Toys R Us closure “will have a long-term effect on the toy business,” and that it will cause the toy industry to “suffer.” Read more here.

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