Day: February 22, 2018

WSMV on Megan Barry Search Warrant: ‘Authorities Believe That Forrest Took Two Photos of a Nude Woman Who Is Believed to be Barry on His Police Department-Issued Cell Phone’

Tennessee Star Staff

A judge has signed off on search warrants for the electronic equipment of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and retired Metro Nashville Police Sgt. Rob Forrest. On January 31, Barry admitted that she had conducted a two-year-long extramarital affair with Forrest, who served as her bodyguard. “Authorities believe that Forrest took two photos of a nude woman who is believed to be Barry on his police department-issued cell phone. He allegedly sent the pictures to himself to his MNPD email,” WSMV reported on Thursday. “Police also found there could be deleted phone logs and hundreds of deleted chats between Forrest and Barry on at least one of the devices that were being searched,” WSMV noted, adding: The warrants specifically asked for records from a silver Apple iPhone 6s Plus and two black Apple iPhone 7 Plus devices. The warrants were approved on Feb. 16 by Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier and were returned on Thursday to the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk’s office. “Within the search warrant, a special agent with the TBI mentions an email sent from Sgt. Forrest’s work email address that included a photo of a nude female lying on the bed with a black purse next to her,”…

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Refreshing Candor From a Metro Councilman About Mayor Megan Barry’s Adultery with Subordinate

Chris Alto

When asked his opinion about whether the Mayor’s leadership credibility has been damaged by the Mayor’s two year extramarital affair and details like pictures of the Mayor interacting with her lover’s family while the affair was on-going, Metro Councilman Steve Glover responded with his trademark candor: I am not qualified to speak about the city’s view of her credibility; I will simply say that if it were me dealing with this issue, I would question if I could continue to lead with this cloud hanging over my head. On-going investigations may show that the “cloud” of the Mayor’s affair implicates members of her staff who arranged publicly financed travel for the Mayor and Sgt. Forrest, facilitating the adultery and providing opportunities for them to be alone together. The Mayor has expressed confidence that an investigation into the expenditure of public funds will find that all trips were related to city business and that police department policy mandating her security detail means that those funds would have been spent regardless of whether or not it was Sgt. Forrest providing her security coverage. The Star has asked Sean Braisted, the Mayor’s Director of Communications, Police Chief Anderson and Don Aaron, Public Affairs Manager for…

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WKRN: ‘Report States Looney Then Grabbed the Teen by Her Arm and Pulled Her from a Chair Before Escorting Her to His Personal Vehicle’

Tennessee Star Staff

UPDATE (1:25 p.m): The Tennessee Star has obtained a photo of what it believes to be the original affidavit of complaint in the case of the State of Tennessee vs. Dr. Mike Looney, which can be seen below:                       12:30 p.m. Late Thursday morning, WKRN reported that, according to an affidavit, Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney, who was arrested Wednesday on assault charges as a result of this incident, “grabbed” a female high school student experiencing a psychological emergency at Franklin High School on Tuesday “by her arm and pulled her from a chair before escorting her to his personal vehicle.” “According to an affidavit, the teen’s mother requested her daughter be taken to the hospital. At some point, according to the report, Looney placed himself between an officer and the student and said the teen would be taken to his office,” WKRN reported, adding: Dr. Looney reportedly told the student he would not have a scene at school and told her to stop crying. The report states Looney then grabbed the teen by her arm and pulled her from a chair before escorting her to his personal vehicle. The teen’s…

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Nineteen GOP State Senators Endorse Marsha Blackburn for U.S. Senate Over ‘Second Thoughts’ Corker

Tennessee Star Staff

Nineteen of the 27 Republicans in the Tennessee State Senate endorsed Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) on Wednesday for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate over a potential candidacy of Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who said in September he would not seek a third term but has indicated over the past week he is having “second thoughts.” The Tennesseean identified the 19 state senators who endorsed Blackburn: Sen. Paul Bailey, Sparta Sen. Mike Bell, Riceville Sen. Janice Bowling, Tullahoma Sen. Rusty Crowe Johnson City Sen. Mark Green, Clarksville Sen. Dolores Gresham, Somerville Sen. Ferrell Haile, Gallatin Sen. Joey Hensley, Hohenwald Sen. Jack Johnson, Franklin Sen. Brian Kelsey, Germantown Sen. Bill Ketron, Murfreesboro Sen. Jon Lundberg, Bristol Sen. Becky Duncan Massey, Knoxville Sen. Frank Niceley, Strawberry Plains Sen. Mark Pody, Lebanon Sen. Kerry Roberts, Springfield Sen. John Stevens, Huntingdon Sen. Ken Yager, Kingston “Among the initial group of Senate Republicans to not endorse Blackburn on Wednesday were Lt. Gov. Randy McNally of Oak Ridge and Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville,” The Tennessean noted, adding: Later in the morning, McNally posted his endorsement of Blackburn on Facebook, saying, “Marsha Blackburn proved her leadership ability in the House. It’s time to put…

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Commentary: Pell Grant Reform Could Mean Good Paying Jobs for Middle America

Admin

By Natalia Castro   President Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan won’t just be looking to refurbish the nation’s bridges and roads but is also aiming at reforming our nation’s educational institutions. To combat some of the most significant problems within our labor force and education system, President Trump has included a provision in his infrastructure plan that could increase access to non-college job training programs without increasing spending. As the legislative outline for Trump’s infrastructure proposal explains, the American workforce is integral to a properly running country and economy. But with nearly seven million individuals around the country looking for work and six million unfilled jobs, America’s skills gaps are leaving workers behind. Despite jobs growth and decreasing unemployment, while a disproportionate share of Americans go to college, jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree, called middle-skilled jobs, are not being filled. In states like Iowa, more than half of all available jobs are middle-skilled jobs, which leaves both jobs unfilled and skilled workers unemployed. In Palm Beach County, Florida jobs for welders and mechanics are going continually unfilled.  Jeff Ostrowski of the Palm Beach Post notes how strange this phenomenon is in their area, considering top…

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Nunes Expands Dossier Probe to Find Out What Obama Knew

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

Rep. Devin Nunes is trying to determine the breadth and reach of the unverified Russia-Trump dossier inside the U.S. government, especially among senior leaders in the Barack Obama administration during the 2016 election. The chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released a letter on Tuesday that is being sent to as many as two dozen senior leaders in the Trump and Obama administrations.

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Newt Gingrich: America Should Arm Teachers to Stop School Shootings

Tennessee Star Staff

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said America should begin arming schoolteachers and administrators to protect their students from mass shootings. The first step is to arm people within the schools and give them a fighting chance, Gingrich said Tuesday on “Fox & Friends,” in response to a question on what can be done to stop the next mass shooter.

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Dem House Candidate in Pennsylvania Special Election Derides Trump’s Increasingly Popular Tax Cuts

Tennessee Star Staff

Republican National Committee (RNC) officials this week tweaked a Democratic candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania for knocking President Donald Trump’s tax cut reforms even as polls show its popularity on the rise. Democrat Conor Lamb (pictured above), who is seeking an open seat in the House of Representatives in a special election next month, made his marks during a debate with Republican nominee Rick Saccone.

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Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney Arrested on Assault Charges

Tennessee Star Staff

Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney was arrested on assault charges Wednesday. Late Wednesday, the Franklin Police Department issued this “statement in response to multiple media inquiries regarding today’s arrest of Dr. Mike Looney, Williamson County Schools Superintendent:” Yesterday, Franklin Police Officers and paramedics were dispatched to Franklin High School for a reported psychological emergency. While working with the student, the student’s mother, and school staff to transport the student to the hospital, Dr. Mike Looney, Williamson County Schools Superintendent, abruptly entered the conference room, grabbed the student by her arm, and forced her out of the school and to his vehicle. Officers intervened and had on-scene paramedics transport the student to the emergency room for evaluation. Today, those officers consulted with the Williamson County Magistrate, who issued an arrest warrant, charging Dr. Looney with Assault. Dr. Looney surrendered himself at the Williamson County Jail after Franklin Police notified him of the warrant. Looney, charged with assault, is free on the $1,500 bond set by the Magistrate. He is due in court 03/08/18 at 1:00 pm. Looney has served as Williamson County Superintendent of Schools since 2009. The unusual circumstances of the incident that resulted in Looney’s arrest raise several…

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