Day: May 26, 2017

Nashville Symphony To Give Performance With Fireworks Saturday

Wendy Wilson

  If you’re still looking for something to do over Memorial Day weekend, the Nashville Symphony will give a performance with fireworks Saturday evening at the Ascend Amphitheater. The “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” will feature the symphony as well as dancers with the Nashville Ballet and Joyce Yang on piano. Vinay Parameswaran will conduct. A performance of the 1812 Overture will accompany the fireworks display. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. General admission lawn seats are $20. Reserved and and premium box seats are also available. Tickets can be purchased by calling 615-687-6400 or visiting the Schermerhorn box office at One Symphony Place downtown. To buy tickets online, click here. The Ascend Amphitheater is located at 310 First Ave. S.

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Hillary Clinton Compares Trump to Nixon – and Worse – in Wellesley Commencent Speech

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

Vanquished 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Friday used a commencement address at her alma mater to warn that President Donald Trump is a danger to the country and the world. At Wellesley College, Clinton never uttered Trump’s name, but took took several shots at the president. A short list of the people she compared…

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Republicans Eyeing Job As Tennessee Governor Respond To Timely Questions At Event Thursday

Wendy Wilson

  While announced and expected Republican candidates for Tennessee governor differed little in their comments at a Rutherford County GOP event on Thursday, they handled questions about tough and timely issues. Businessmen Randy Boyd and Bill Lee spoke at at the annual Reagan Day Dinner, as did state Sen. Mark Green (R-Clarksville) and Congresswoman Diane Black. Boyd, who formerly served as Gov. Bill Haslam’s economic commissioner, and Lee are the only two who have officially announced their candidacies for the 2018 race. On sanctuary cities, all four in attendance said they were strongly against Tennessee cities refusing to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. There are no cities in the state that have technically refused to cooperate with ICE, though Nashville Mayor Megan Barry is seen as sympathetic toward illegal immigrants. Moreover, lax immigration enforcement nationwide under previous presidents has meant ongoing problems with criminal illegal immigrants who continue to commit crimes. “No city in Tennessee will be a sanctuary city under my watch,” said Boyd, who is regarded as an establishment Republican and who last year gave a large donation to Conexión Américas for its culinary entrepreneurship program. Renata Soto, the founder and director of the Nashville group, is…

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DHS Secretary John Kelly Pushes Back on Obama’s Comments: ‘We’re Not Hiding Behind a Wall’

Tennessee Star Staff

Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly pushed back Friday against comments made by former President Barack Obama about constructing a border wall. “We’re not hiding behind a wall. We’re constructing physical barriers backed up by technology, and of course the great men and women of customs and border protection, to simply safeguard our Southern…

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Norris and Harwell No-Shows at Reagan Day Dinner Featuring Announced and Expected GOP Gubernatorial Candidates

Tennessee Star Staff

  State Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) and Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) joined State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) as no-shows at the Rutherford County GOP Reagan Day Dinner in Murfreesboro Thursday night. Rutherford County GOP Chair Donna Barrett read a letter to the capacity crowd of over 200 from Harwell informing them that she was on her way to Colorado because a family member, her sister, had been injured with a broken back. Norris had a conflict that required his presence in his home district. On Wednesday Beavers announced that she had a conflict that would prevent her from attending. Four announced or expected candidates for governor, however, did show up and were featured speakers. Randy Boyd and Bill Lee, both announced candidates, and Congresswoman Diane Black, and State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville), both potential candidates, made their respective cases. Harwell’s family emergency postponed what was rumored to be the Speaker’s announcement of her candidacy for the GOP nomination for governor. Given the serious nature of her sister’s injuries, it is not clear when Harwell will return to Tennessee and resume her potential campaign for the state’s highest elected executive position.    

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No Fireworks in Gubernatorial Primary as Diane Black, Randy Boyd, Mark Green and Bill Lee Make Their Pitches at Rutherford County GOP Reagan Day Dinner

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee — Four announced and expected Republican candidates for Tennessee governor spoke at Thursday evening’s Reagan Day Dinner sponsored by the Rutherford County GOP. Participants included businessmen Randy Boyd and Bill Lee, Congresswoman Diane Black and State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville). State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) said Wednesday she had to back out because of a scheduling conflict. At Thursday’s event, it was announced that State Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) and House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) were also unable to attend as planned. Norris, like Beavers, cited a scheduling conflict and Harwell had to go to Colorado to be with her sister, who broke her back. Boyd and Lee are the only two who have officially launched campaigns for the 2018 race. The four candidates who spoke Thursday at the Stones River Country Club in Murfreesboro answered questions about federal encroachment on states’ rights, school vouchers, sanctuary cities and Medicaid. All four gave responses that reflected few substantial differences. There were no questions about Gov. Bill Haslam’s IMPROVE Act, which he recently signed into law after it passed in the state legislature, but not without fierce debate. The legislation raises the gas tax and allows municipalities to hold…

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Commentary: Why Chasing Ghosts in the Trump/Russia Affair Will Cost Democrats Dearly

Tennessee Star Staff

  By Jeffrey A. Rendall It’s a sad sign of the times that it took something like the Manchester terrorist attack the other night to temporarily drag the public’s mind away from the Democrats’ reoccurring Russia-Trump collusion fixation, but it certainly won’t be long before the focus-challenged media returns to the subject. But now that special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to specifically separate the truth from whatever the Democrats are claiming, Trump’s haters are ostensibly bracing themselves for the prospect that the investigators won’t find anything damaging on the new president. When/if Mueller finds nothing, what then? Apparently the excuses are being prepared well in advance. Eddie Scarry of the Washington Examiner reports, “[Trump critics] Brzezinski, Scarborough and Frum are just the latest voices in the media to suggest that the chase for evidence of collusion may be a waste of time. Last week, other left-leaning people in the media were drawing the same conclusion. “’It may well be difficult to identify any criminal laws violated by the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia,’ CNN commentator and writer for the New Yorker Jeffrey Toobin wrote last Friday. ‘It will be important for Mueller to investigate, for example, whether anyone associated…

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Republican Gianforte Wins Montana’s Special Congressional Election

Tina LaFleur

  The mainstream media’s fever dreams have once again been broken by the will of American voters – this time, in Big Sky Country – as Republican Greg Gianforte wins Montana’s single House seat in Thursday’s special election. Decision Desk HQ called it at 10pm mountain time: We project that Greg Gianforte has won the #MTAL special election. #MTAL https://t.co/61tksgfeKf — Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) May 26, 2017 Gianforte will replace Ryan Zinke who was tapped by the Trump Administration to join the cabinet as the Secretary of the Interior. On Monday night, Gianforte made news when a reporter from The Guardian claimed that he was body slammed by Gianforte. Voters in Montana apparently were not particularly bothered by the allegation, though a local sheriff filed misdemeanor charges against the GOP candidate late Monday night. Follow real-time returns here.      

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Eight Tennessee Sites Added to National Register of Historic Places

Wendy Wilson

Eight Tennessee sites have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. Three are in Shelby County. They include the Rock of Ages Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the Memphis Federation of Musicians Local 71 Building, both in Memphis. The Charles Davis House in Collierville was also honored. The other sites include the Cleveland Commercial Historic District in Bradley County, the LaFollette Coke Ovens in Campbell County, Kern’s Bakery in Knoxville, the Science Building at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville and the William A. McMurry House in Springfield in Robertson County. The Tennessee Historical Commission made the announcement last week on its Facebook page. “As Tennessee grows, it is important to recognize the unique historic places that help define us,” said Patrick McIntyre, state historic preservation officer and executive director of the Tennessee Historical Commission. “The National Register is an honorary designation that emphasizes the importance of these special properties worth maintaining and passing along to future generations.” The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of cultural resources in the U.S. deemed worthy of preservation. The Tennessee Historical Commission oversees the program in Tennessee.

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Friday, May 26

Dana Hunsinger Gill
Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing May 26, Friday Matthew 6:9-13 9 … Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

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