Day: May 16, 2017

Arkansas Approves Final Plans For Ten Commandments Monument At Capitol

Wendy Wilson

An Arkansas commission has approved a privately-funded display of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state Capitol. The Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission voted Thursday to approve the monument, which weighs more than 6,000 pounds and is more than 6 feet tall, according to the Associated Press. Last week’s approval was largely a formality. In 2015, the Arkansas General Assembly passed legislation allowing a display of the Ten Commandments to mark their influence in American law, but at no expense to the state. The Arkansas-based American History and Heritage Foundation raised more than $26,000 for the monument, which is set to be installed next month. “This is part of who we are, it’s history,” Republican state Sen. Jason Rapert told reporters at the Capitol. Rapert sponsored the 2015 legislation in the General Assembly. The monument is a replica of one at the Texas Capitol that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. Even so, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas has threatened to sue.

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Consensus Grows Trump Acted Appropriately, Leakers Broke Law

Tennessee Star Staff

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster on Tuesday reiterated that President Donald Trump did nothing wrong in sharing sensitive information about the Islamic State terrorist organization with a pair of Russian diplomats. McMaster fielded questions from reporters for the first time since The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump shared classified information in a White House meeting…

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Franklin Graham To Host Event In Clarksville On Thursday

Wendy Wilson

Christian evangelist Franklin Graham will be in Clarksville on Thursday as part of his Decision America Tennessee Tour. He kicked off the tour Monday in Chattanooga and after stopping in Clarksville, will be in Jackson on Friday and Memphis on Sunday. “Thousands of churches and tens of thousands of people are excited to come together this May to pray for their communities in the Volunteer State,” said Lawrence Swicegood, director of Decision America Tennessee, in a story on the website for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Franklin Graham is the son of Billy Graham. Each event will feature a time of praise and worship as well as special musical performances. Dove Award-winning singer-songwriter Jeremy Camp will join the tour in Clarksville, Jackson and Memphis. Each stop will also include worship music from guitarist and singer Dennis Agajanian, who has traveled the world alongside Billy Graham and Franklin Graham. This fall, Franklin Graham plans to tour Texas, stopping in seven cities. Last year, he traveled to all 50 state capitals as part of his Decision America Tour that encouraged people to pray, vote and engage in the political process. His new efforts are aimed at reaching people in smaller and mid-sized cities.…

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Kentucky Appeals Court Upholds Printer’s Right To Refuse To Make Pro-Gay T-Shirts

Wendy Wilson

A Kentucky appeals court last week upheld the free speech rights of a Lexington print shop owner who refused to make gay pride t-shirts because the message conflicted with his Christian beliefs. The ruling “is a victory for printers and other creative professionals who serve all people but cannot promote all messages,” said senior counsel Jim Campbell in a news release issued by Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented print shop owner Blaine Adamson in court. “It is also a victory for all Americans because it reassures us all that, no matter what you believe, the law can’t force you to express a message in conflict with your deepest convictions.” In 2012, the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (GLSO) asked Adamson’s business, Hands On Originals, to print t-shirts promoting a local gay pride festival hosted by the group. Adamson declined to make the shirts but offered to refer the GLSO to another printer. The group eventually was able to get the shirts made for free but still filed a complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, which said Adamson had violated a fairness ordinance and ordered him to make the shirts and attend diversity training. Alliance Defending Freedom appealed…

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Before Lois Lerner Targeted the Tea Party, She Helped the Clinton Foundation

Tennessee Star Staff

Six years before she became the central figure in the IRS’s illegal targeting of Tea Party tax-exemption applicants, Lois Lerner cleared the way for the Clinton Foundation’s transformation from building a presidential library to being a $2 billion global political influence peddling machine, according to documents obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group. She…

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Former Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey Says ‘There Was Some Punishment Levied Against Some House Members’ for Voting No on Gas Tax

Chris Alto

During a press conference in Blountville, former Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey said that, “[w]hen I was in the legislature, let me assure you, actions had consequences,” as the reason why none of the new transportation funding is headed to Washington County. Ramsey summed it up this way: “There was no doubt, in the end, that there was some punishment levied against some House members on funding. Not against the Senate members, but against the House members.” For example, Ramsey said the Senate included funding for the Sullivan County Agriculture Center and East Tennessee State University, after which the House stripped away some of the funding. Rep. Timothy Hill, whose district covers Johnson County and parts of Carter and Sullivan Counties, voted against the gas tax. “Well, Timothy Hill’s district is the Ag Center. That’s one. I even made a phone call to say, ‘That this is kind of my pet project.’ It’s not up to the House members on that, but still they felt like it was time to ‘exact a pound of flesh’ was exactly the words that I heard” No TDOT projects were included for Johnson County which Hill also represents. Similarly, there were no TDOT projects listed for…

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Senator Bob Corker Repeats FAKE NEWS Narrative from Democrats and MSM, Calls for White House to ‘Bring Itself Under Control’

Tina LaFleur
Tennessee Star

  Tennessee’s Senator Bob Corker is once again singing from the Democrats’ hymnal. The chorus Corker joined on Monday is delivering the perennial favorite line for 2017, “the White House is in chaos,” with a dash of the debunked FAKE NEWS from the Washington Post, “White House/Russia classified intel disclosure.” “Obviously they’re in a downward spiral right now and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening,” Corker told Bloomberg News on Monday. Bloomberg’s Sahil Kapur tweeted Corker’s additional statement that “The White House has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and in order.”   BOB CORKER: "The White House has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and in order. It's got to happen." — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 15, 2017 But, as radio talk show host Laura Ingraham noted, the Washington Post “source” for the allegation “didn’t talk to ANY U.S. official” in attendance at the meeting in question: WH source with direct knowledge just told me @washingtonpost didn't talk to ANY U.S. official at mtg w/ Lavrov. "It's Fake News" — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) May 15, 2017 and followed it up with Meaning of…

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AFP Sponsors ‘Day at the Capitol’ for Key Vote in Louisiana Gas Tax Hike Battle

Tina LaFleur
Tennessee Star

  If it seems like every other State in the Union has either raised their fuel tax – or is working on it – it’s because they are. A full 21 states’ legislatures have proposed raising the gas tax, and more of those proposals have been successful than not. California and Tennessee consumers will see a sharp increase in prices at the pump thanks to increased taxes; while South Carolina’s governor just spared his constituency by vetoing a gas tax hike. Louisiana is up next, with a vote Tuesday in the powerful Ways and Means Committee which will determine the fate of a years-long battle to raise the gas tax there. Americans for Prosperity (AFP), whose Tennessee state group opposed the gas tax in Tennessee, is sponsoring a “Day at the Capitol” through its Louisiana state group. Activists are called to gather Tuesday, May 16 in Baton  Rouge from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Ways and Means Committee room. The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. The Hayride reports: There are 19 members of the House Ways And Means Committee – 12 Republicans and seven Democrats. HB 632 by Rep. Steve Carter, which is the gas tax bill, has eight…

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Tuesday, May 16

Dana Hunsinger Gill
Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing May 16, Tuesday Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing. Psalm 139:2-3 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.    

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