Day: March 19, 2017

Report: Speaker Beth Harwell Says She Will Run For Governor

Tennessee Star Staff

Citing a Facebook post on Friday by a former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on Sunday that Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) says she will be running for the Republican nomination for governor in 2018: For well over a year, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell has held her cards close over whether she will seek the 2018 GOP nomination for governor. But the soft-spoken Nashville representative appears to have exposed her hand to former Tennessee Republican Party chairwoman Susan Richardson Williams, who dished Friday in a Facebook post. “Just got a call from Speaker Beth Harwell to let me know she is running for Governor next year too!” wrote Williams. “Let the games begin! Wow!” Asked to elaborate, Williams said in an email she had “nothing more than [Harwell’s] call to let me know she was running” to share. “I congratulated her and said I was happy that we may have at least two women in the race. I have too many friends in this race!!!” A Harwell spokesman did not respond to a Times Free Press email about Williams’ Facebook post Saturday. “Hard to believe this was an attempt at a…

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Nashville Democrat State Rep. Brenda Gilmore Opposed Illegal Immigration Ten Years Ago

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

Prior to being elected as a Democrat to represent Davidson County’s 54th district in the Tennessee General Assembly, State Rep. Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) served on the Metro Council of Nashville and Davidson County from 1999-2007. During her last year serving on the Metro Council, Gilmore sponsored Resolution No.RS2007-1753, “A Resolution requesting Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Bob Corker and the Davidson County Congressional Delegation to introduce and support comprehensive legislation to address illegal immigration issues.” Gilmore cited the following concerns justifying her resolution: “WHEREAS, due to its abundance of construction-related jobs, the Nashville area has become a magnet for illegal immigrants in recent years; and WHEREAS, the rising cost of providing government services to illegal immigrants is having a tremendous negative impact on our state and local government; and WHEREAS, as a result of the increasing number of criminal offenders arrested in Nashville that are undocumented aliens, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall recently gained approval from the federal government for Nashville’s participation in the 287(g) program, which will provide enhanced communication and cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement to help identify and initiate deportation proceedings on criminal illegal immigrants; and WHEREAS, recent polls have documented the public’s frustration…

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Commentary: Trump’s Budget Puts GOP Congress On The Spot

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

Commentary: Trump’s Budget Puts GOP Congress On The Spot George Rasley, CHQ Editor March 19, 2017 It doesn’t matter what politicians say, you can always tell what their priorities are by what they spend your tax dollars on. And this is especially true of Capitol Hill’s establishment Republicans who for years have talked about cutting spending, but always pass budgets that fund Democratic Party priorities and Far Left liberal organizations. However, this year Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are on the spot because Trump budgetPresident Trump has proposed the most conservative budget since Ronald Reagan was President. (You can review President Trump’s Make America Great Again budget plan through this link.) So, this year the responsibility and the plaudits – or more likely the blame – for what gets funded will be squarely on the shoulders of Capitol Hill’s Republican leaders who can no longer blame Obama for funding Planned Parenthood, race-based groups like La Raza, and liberal boondoggles like the National Endowment for the Arts. In the simplest terms, President Trump’s new budget proposes to raise discretionary defense spending by $54 billion in the next fiscal year and cut domestic discretionary spending by an equivalent…

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Three Teens Arrested In Nashville For Robbing Cab Driver At Gunpoint

Wendy Wilson

Three teens were arrested Friday morning after allegedly robbing a cab driver at gunpoint outside a Nashville apartment building. The suspects fled after the incident on Glastonbury Road near I-40 and Briley Parkway. Police deployed spike strips on I-40 East near Old Hickory Boulevard to stop their vehicle. Jose Calderon-Auguilar, 17, Victor Hernandez, 15, and Francis Hernandez-Aguilar, 17, were taken into custody, according to a Metro Nashville Police Department news release. Police found a sawed off-shotgun inside their vehicle. One of the teens had the cab driver’s keys. All three are charged in juvenile court with aggravated robbery. The Tennessee Star was told that police do not release information about immigration status of individuals arrested.  

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Proposes Expanding Programs For English Learners

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

Metro Nashville Public Schools hopes to spend $4.7 million on adding numerous new positions next year to meet the needs of students who have a native language other than English. In the district’s proposed budget for the 2017-2018 school year, MNPS plans to add 31 English Learner (EL) teachers to address state-mandated student-teacher ratios, according to a factsheet on the district’s website. The district also wants to add seven teacher professional development positions and 19 interpreters and translators. In addition, the proposal calls for adding six new tutors for afterschool tutoring and expanding summer school programming. “Continued growth in the district’s EL population brings the need to further expand the scope and depth of EL services,” the factsheet reads, noting that MNPS gains more than 1,000 new EL students each year. Those students include immigrants and refugees born in other countries as well as those born in the U.S. but who are exposed primarily to another language at home before starting school. Languages spoken include Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, Burmese, Nepali, Somali, Swahili and Vietnamese, among others. While activists support the expansion of EL programs in public schools, critics view the related expenditures as burdening taxpayers with soaring, unchecked immigration growth. MNPS…

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