Tag: Knoxville News Sentinel

Judge Dismisses Challenge to Tennessee Election Integrity Law

Matthew Giffin
Judge Eli Richardson

A federal district court judge dismissed a challenge to a Tennessee election integrity law meant to encourage people to only vote in the primary election associated with their party. District Judge Eli Richardson dismissed the lawsuit on Monday, The Associated Press reported.

The League of Women Voters of Tennessee, Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist Victor Ashe, and real estate developer Phil Lawson filed the lawsuit against the Tennessee Secretary of State, the state election coordinator, and the Tennessee Attorney General in November 2023, The Tennessee Star previously reported.

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AP Reporter Takes Sides Against Tennessee Right-to-Work Campaign

Bradley Vasoli

The campaign for the constitutional “right-to-work” amendment appearing on this year’s Tennessee election ballot has garnered vocal opposition from labor unions and other left-wing thought leaders. Supporters could have expected that. Less predictably, a Nashville-based Associated Press reporter railed against the effort this week.

In a Twitter post, AP writer Kimberlee Kruesi opined strongly against Governor Bill Lee’s pronouncements on the issue, characterizing them as “false” and “outrageous spin.” 

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Creative Math By Knox County Schools and Gannett Reporter Imply State Cut District Spending By $6M When In Fact Contribution Increased By That Amount

Jason M. Reynolds

A Knoxville News-Sentinel reporter last week shared the local school superintendent’s creative math to accuse Gov. Bill Lee of cutting education spending by nearly $6 million, when in fact the state’s BEP contribution had increased by that amount. On April 1, reporter Tyler Whetstone tweeted, “New today – @GovBillLee‘s BEP proposal would cut @KnoxSchools funding by approximately $6 million. That’s a lot of 0s when you’re trying to scrap together a budget.” New today – @GovBillLee's BEP proposal would cut @KnoxSchools funding by approximately $6 million. That's a lot of 0s when you're trying to scrap together a budget. https://t.co/vEMD7mVNqH — Tyler Whetstone (@tyler_whetstone) April 1, 2019 Whetstone’s story quoted Knox County Schools Superintendent Bob Thomas as lamenting a roughly $6 million cut in budgeted funds from the state’s Basic Education Plan going to the district. Thomas cried that the sky would fall in the form of the district not building three planned school buildings and changing a planned pay raise. But guess what, Thomas’ math might as well have been an April Fool’s joke. The state has typically added roughly $180 million new dollars into the BEP statewide in recent years. This, plus other smaller percentages of state funds,…

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Ignore the Man Behind The Curtain: Haslam Conspires to Block Diane Black Endorsement by Trump

Julie Carr

In the audio below, conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill of The Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, called out “Never-Trumper” Bill Haslam for his attempts to block a Trump endorsement for Tennessee’s Diane Black in the Tennessee Governor’s race and whether or not this will entice President Trump to do so. Gill reflected, “We were talking earlier in the show about the possibility of a Trump endorsement of Diane Black. Well now the Knoxville News Sentinel is reporting along with the Nashville Tennessean and Memphis Commercial Appeal that Governor Bill Haslam has said Trump should stay out of the republican primary for Tennessee Governor.” He continued: Now there’s been a few stories that have been done by the New York Times and the Tennessee Star pointing out that Bill Haslam was hoping to block a Trump endorsement of Diane Black. And we exposed that he was actually working behind the scenes to try and block that endorsement. Well now apparently, it’s been confirmed as the Governor has been outed that he is in fact telling people I don’t think it would be helpful for the White House to be in primaries.…

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Based on Claims from Anonymous Sources and Ex-Wife with Criminal History, Knoxville News Sentinel Reported ‘FBI Asks Questions About Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett’

Tennessee Star Staff

Relying upon claims from an ex-wife with a criminal history, three anonymous sources, and two unproduced documents they claim to have seen but refuse to reveal, the Knoxville News Sentinel published a story written by two Nashville-based reporters on Friday titled “Sources: FBI asks questions about Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett; mayor says ‘no truth to any of it.’” Burchett, who is term-limited in his current job, is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the Second Congressional District in the election to replace retiring Rep. John “Jimmy” Duncan (R-TN-02), where he faces a hard fought battle against State Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City). Friday’s article was written by Dave Boucher and Joel Ebert, two Nashville-based reporters at The Tennessean, which is part of the USA Today-Tennessee network that now includes The Knoxville News Sentinel and The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “Four people tell the USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee federal agents have asked them questions about Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett,” Boucher and Ebert wrote in the article, adding: Allison Burchett [Tim Burchett’s ex-wife] said she began working with the FBI in 2012 but declined further comment. “I’m sorry I cannot comment on an ongoing FBI investigation,” she said. The three other sources requested anonymity for…

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