Day: April 20, 2017

Elizabeth Thomas, ‘Healthy and Unharmed,’ Soon To Return To Middle Tennessee

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Elizabeth Thomas will soon be on her way home back to Middle Tennessee, authorities said at a press conference Thursday afternoon at Tennessee Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Nashville. The 15-year-old Maury County girl was found Thursday morning in a remote area in Northern California along with her former high school teacher Tad Cummins. Cummins, 50, was arrested and will face charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor. The TBI received a tip late Wednesday night that led to authorities in California finding the pair at a rural cabin in Cecilville in Siskiyou County. Thomas is “healthy and unharmed,” said Brent Cooper, the district attorney for the 22nd judicial district, which covers Maury County. “Our main concern is how she is emotionally and mentally,” Cooper said, adding that there are agencies available to help her when she is ready. Authorities said Thomas would travel back to Tennessee on TBI aircraft, but would not disclose any further details about her return out of respect for her privacy. Thomas and Cummins had been staying at the cabin for about a week and a half with limited or no cell phone service and where snow was on the…

Read the full story

Federal Lawmakers Back Knox County Sheriff In Efforts To Run 287(g) Immigration Enforcement Program

Wendy Wilson

Tennessee federal lawmakers are backing the sheriff of Knox County in his efforts to get approval to run the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program. The program allows state and local police officers to collaborate with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws. President Trump in his executive orders on immigration said he would revitalize the program. The program is named for Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and became law in 1996. President Obama scaled back the program. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office would become the only law enforcement agency in the state to be part of the 287(g) program. The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office participated in the program for several years before ending its involvement in 2012. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that ICE asked Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones to get letters of recommendation from Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., who all complied with the request. The newspaper quotes Jones as saying that currently when people are arrested, their immigration status is run to see if the crime is deportable. The process can take up to three weeks at $100 a day. The 287(g) program would streamline the process…

Read the full story

BREAKING: Tad Cummins Arrested, Elizabeth Thomas Safe

Admin
Tennessee Star

  The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say they have arrested Tad Cummins, and that Elizabeth Thomas is now safe.   NEWS ALERT: Tad Cummins is under arrest and Elizabeth Thomas has been safely recovered in Northern California. More details soon! pic.twitter.com/QezSERDzHV — Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (@TBInvestigation) April 20, 2017   Fox News reports: Cummins is accused of absconding with his student Elizabeth Thomas from their small town of Culleoka, Tennessee. Authorities released surveillance video from March 15th that shows the pair at a Walmart in Oklahoma City, but otherwise their trail has gone cold. TBI will hold a press conference at 3pm in Nashville to inform the public of additional details. MEDIA: We will offer a news conference at TBI Headquarters in Nashville at 3PM Central. Gathering as many details as possible to share. — Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (@TBInvestigation) April 20, 2017   UPDATE Here is the Facebook video of today’s press conference (begins at about 8:45min). (You can see The Tennessee Star’s Wendy Wilson in the red dress in the lower right of the screen, reporting live from the press conference.)    

Read the full story

Game On: GOP Primary Challenger Blasts State Rep. Susan Lynn for Voting Yes on Gas Tax Increase After Saying She Opposed It

Tennessee Star Staff

Less than 24 hours after State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) broke her promise not to vote for a gas tax increase, her 2018 Republican primary challenger is on the attack. “In a story reported by The Tennessee Star on March 12, 2017 Susan Lynn declined a challenge by Jeremy H. G. Hayes to debate her support of the Gas Tax, saying, ‘No, I am not for the gas tax so there is nothing to debate,’ ” the Jeremy Hayes for State Representative campaign said in a statement released on Thursday. Hayes announced in February he will challenge Lynn in the August 2018 Republican primary to represent the 57th House District. In a March 12 story titled “State Rep. Susan Lynn: ‘I Am Not For The Gas Tax So There Is Nothing To Debate’,” The Tennessee Star reported: “No, I am not for the gas tax so there is nothing to debate,” State Rep. Susan Lynn (R- Mount Juliet) tells The Tennessee Star in response to challenger Jeremy Hayes’ March 8 press release calling on her to debate him over the issue. Hayes opposes Gov. Haslam’s proposed gas tax increase. As The Star reported on Wednesday, Rep. Lynn was one…

Read the full story

Judson Phillips Commentary: RIP Tennessee Republican Party

Judson Phillips

  RIP Tennessee Republican Party. The Tennessee Republican Party died on April 19, 2017. Ten years after the GOP became the majority party in Tennessee, led by a liberal governor, the party committed political suicide. By voting for the largest tax increase in the history of the state of Tennessee, the Republicans in the state legislature knifed their base in the back and repudiated everything they claim to stand for. Tennessee Republicans routinely make campaign speeches talking about how conservative they are and how they believe in limited government. Today, Tennessee’s conservative base knows this is a lie. Despite that, these same politicians will return home and tell the local people how conservative they are. Clearly these politicians think that the people who make up base are idiots. After all, they seriously think they can name the largest tax increase in the history of the state, the “Tax Cut Act of 2017” and expect the base to believe them. Unfortunately, the Tennessee Republicans supermajority in the legislature chose to listen to a lame duck, feckless crap weasel governor instead of the people who put them in office. Since the Tennessee Republicans did not listen to their base, it is time…

Read the full story

Brentwood City Commission Debate Focuses on Withdrawing From Williamson County Schools and Forming City School System

Wendy Wilson

Candidates for the Brentwood City Commission tackled school issues, traffic problems and Gov. Haslam’s IMPROVE Act at a debate Wednesday evening. Four candidates are running for three seats in the nonpartisan May 2 election. Three candidates are incumbents. They are Mayor Regina Smithson, Mark Gorman and Rhea Little. The only challenger is John Byers. Around 100 people attended the debate, held at LBMC in the new Hill Center. The top question of the evening involved talk of pulling out of Williamson County Schools and forming a city school system. There has been frustration in recent days with a school district proposal that would send some Brentwood students to schools in other parts of the county because of overcrowding in Brentwood schools. Smithson said the focus for now should be on persuading the county commission to vote for a plan to fund expansions at Brentwood Middle and Brentwood High to prevent the rezoning. Gorman noted that the idea of forming a city school system has been floated before and “perhaps it is time to do a study and revisit it.” Little said it’s not something he has advocated but said he would support a study. Byers called it “a bit premature”…

Read the full story

Nashville To Teach Officials From Germany, Where Female Genital Mutilation Has Increased 40 Percent, How to ‘Welcome’ Immigrants

Chris Alto

Twenty-five “integration practitioners” from Germany will visit several U.S. cities in May, including Nashville, as part of the Welcoming Communities Transatlantic Exchange program to learn how immigrants  and refugees are welcomed and integrated (as opposed to assimilated) in these locations. As part of the exchange program, representatives from the U.S. will pay a reciprocal visit to Germany in November. As in Tennessee, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is illegal in Germany. However, increased and virtually unrestrained immigration to Germany from countries where FGM is commonly practiced, has, in two short years, resulted in a 40% increase in the number of women living in Germany who have been victimized by FGM. The government’s report notes that while most of the immigrants were mutilated before entering Germany, “the government highlighted an increased risk of the operations happening on home soil. According to the data, as many as 5,700 girls per year could be mutilated under current conditions.” Germany’s data shows that most of the FGM victims come from Eritrea, Somalia, Egypt, Ethiopia or Iraq, some of the same high prevalence FGM countries of the refugees brought to Nashville, the primary resettlement location for refugees in Tennessee. Data assembled by the Population Reference Bureau that shows…

Read the full story

Rep. Jay Reedy Calls Teacher Bill of Rights a First Step in Giving Teachers More Support

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  For state Rep. Jay Reedy, the issue of teachers losing respect in today’s culture is one that hits close to home. Reedy’s wife teaches chemistry at Houston County High School on the edge of Middle Tennessee 75 miles west of Nashville. “Today’s school setting hears the complaints from students and parents and discounts the teacher,” Reedy told The Tennessee Star. The lack of respect from students and school officials are driving both new and experienced educators from the classroom, said Reedy, whose three children attend public schools. Reedy (R-Erin) along with Sen. Mark Green (R-Clarksville) is sponsoring a bill advancing in the state legislature known as the Teacher Bill of Rights. The bill on Tuesday cleared the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee. The proposed legislation calls for teachers to be treated with civility and have their professional judgment respected. It also provides backing in case they’re pressured to spend their own money on classroom supplies and it says they should have a say in the materials used in their classrooms. The bill also says teachers have a right to defend themselves if threatened with violence, a growing problem in some classrooms, especially in urban districts where students have become more…

Read the full story

Liberals Claim Protests Are Their Version of the Tea Party. Is It True?

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

  Jeffrey A. Rendall Perhaps it’s a just part of our 21st century political reality where partisans fight over everything under the sun, but now Democrats and Republicans can’t seem to agree on whose people are (or were) angriest – or even whether the others’ followers were angry at all. With congressmen and senators back in their districts since recessing almost two weeks ago, Republicans especially have faced another wave of angry protesters during town hall meetings and public appearances. The Berkeley protestsscenes have become almost formulaic, like a bad romantic comedy movie. Here’s the scenario: a congressman advertises an event; leftwing groups put out the word to their shock troops, people show up, make a lot of noise, don’t let the congressman say very much without interruption, earn dirty looks from people who are there legitimately concerned about something, the press eats it up and everyone leaves upset claiming they’re not being heard and Trump and the Republicans don’t care about them. It’s become so commonplace and predictable since Donald Trump won the presidency almost six months ago that Republicans are now just taking it all in stride. W. James Antle III of the Washington Examiner wrote, “Liberals are…

Read the full story

Haslam Bargained with Democrats and Establishment Republicans to Pass Gas Tax Increase Bill

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

  Governor Haslam’s IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017” (HB 534), which includes a 6 cents per gallon gas tax increase and a 10 cents per gallon diesel tax increase phased in over three years, garnered 23 votes from Democrats and 37 establishment Republicans, which was more than sufficient to get it to pass in the Tennessee House of Representatives by a vote of 60 to 37 late Wednesday. It was a long day for State Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss, the leading co-sponsor of the bill, who spent several hours presenting the case for the bill on the floor of the House prior to the final vote. Only two Democrats, State Rep G. A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) and State Rep. John Mark Windle (D-Livingston), joined the conservative caucus  of Republicans, who cast 35 votes against the IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017.” Rumors swirled throughout the capitol Wednesday that Governor Haslam had made a deal with the Democrats to secure their votes. Rep. Doss (R-Leoma) was seen conversing on the floor with several Democrats throughout the day, which was not, by itself, particularly unusual. More significantly, Democratic Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) was seen accompanying administrative staffer Warren Wells to the…

Read the full story