Day: March 10, 2018

Rutherford County Mayoral Candidate Calls for a County-Wide Safety Assessment of All Schools, Public and Private

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In the wake of the horrific school shootings in Parkland, Florida, Rutherford County Mayor candidate Tina Jones called on the Rutherford County School Board along with Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh to conduct a county-wide safety assessment of all schools – public and private. “Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our children,” Jones said in a statement. “While we may have good security protocols in place for our schools, we need to make sure that they are actually being followed and determine if other ways of securing our schools should be implemented. We need to ACT rather than REACT.” Jones said that the assessment and review should focus on two critical areas: whether access to the schools is properly limited; and whether the security systems that are in place are operational. “We are all encouraged to regularly check the batteries in our home smoke detectors,” Jones noted, adding:  This safety assessment will enable us to do the same thing for our schools and should be an annual process moving forward. We also need to determine whether we have a sufficient number of School Resource Officers (SROs) in place, particularly as our student populations are growing so rapidly, and how we…

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Julian Assange Credits Eric Holder’s DOJ with WikiLeaks’ Releases

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Eric Holder, Barack Obama

Julian Assange on Friday credited the Obama administration for putting him in place to publish sensitive documents through his WikiLeaks website, including Democratic emails released during the 2016 U.S. presidential race. Mr. Assange made the remarks on Twitter in response to a tweet last month by Eric Holder, the former U.S. attorney general in office when the Justice Department initiated its investigation of WikiLeaks following its publication of classified U.S. diplomatic and military documents in 2010.

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Heavy Rainfalls Force Music City Irish Fest to Change Venues

Jason M. Reynolds

Heavy rainfalls in Nashville have caused the organizers of the fourth annual Music City Irish Fest on St. Patrick’s Day to move the venue. The new location on Saturday, March 17 will be Public Square Park on the steps of City Hall, organizers said in a press release. The previously announced location at Riverfront Park “has been deemed unusable as a venue for the staging and production,” the press release said. Weather Underground reports that Nashville International Airport received 10.91 inches of rainfall in February alone. Organizers made the move after consulting with  the City of Nashville, Metro Parks and the Army Corps of Engineers. “I believe the producers of this great not-for-profit event are making the right decision, albeit a tough one, given the existing water levels on the Cumberland River” Metro Councilman Robert Swope said in the organization’s press release. Sunday events have been canceled. Saturday hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The fest is billed as Nashville’s biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebration with Irish craft vendors, food and beverage, dancers, sports and a full day of Irish music. The festival is free to the public. The fest’s website says the event’s purpose is to educator people…

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Commentary: Democrats Won’t Defeat GOP in November But Complacency Just Might

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by Jeffrey A. Rendall   In olden times by far the most tedious part of being a sailor had to be lookout duty. After all, in most cases the lookout’s stationed high up in the crow’s nest gazing out across the vast and empty sea searching for something – anything – that could be interpreted as a hazard to the ship. When sailing in the open ocean the chances of actually encountering a threat is slim indeed, yet the duty was vital nonetheless. A lookout can’t afford to be complacent. The last thing he’d want to do is to miss an iceberg dead ahead or an enemy ship to the port side. Or perhaps even a big wave. Tidal waves certainly didn’t occur very often, but when they arose they were destructive and deadly. The GOP would benefit from stationing a lookout in the proverbial political crow’s nest because Republicans hope to blunt a big blue wave this November. Some in the party are banking on tax reform to be their salvation from the ravages of a storm on the horizon. David M. Drucker of the Washington Examiner wrote, “[S]omething is happening to the dark blue Democratic tsunami that everyone saw coming, and it is happening just…

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Former Governor Phil Bredesen Fears His Senate Campaign Has Been Hacked

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Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen fears his 2018 U.S. Senate campaign has been hacked, potentially marking the first known cyberattack targeting the November mid-terms merely eight months until Election Day. Campaign aides last month “received multiple emails that appeared to be from the campaign’s media buyer,” Robert E. Cooper Jr., an attorney for Mr. Bredesen’s Democratic campaign, wrote the FBI in a letter sent to the bureau’s Memphis division Thursday.

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It’s Daylight Saving Time Weekend – Get Ready to ‘Spring Forward!’

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What that the clock giveth, the clock taketh away… Yes; it’s that time again! On Sunday, March 11, 2 a.m. will suddenly become 3 a.m. as most Americans observe Daylight Saving Time. (Or is it that we stop observing it?) Anyway, first implemented in 1918 (and finally made a federal standard in 1966), the metaphysical practice of moving our clocks forward and back was an attempt to help save energy costs and maximize productive hours by mitigating the seasonal changes in the hours of daylight from summer to winter. Of course the practice has many critics – and in some places, “Daylight Savings” is going away altogether. (Looking at you, Florida…!) In others, it never came. (Arizona!) So, those of us who still have “watches” and “clocks” that need setting from time to time – get ready! But for now, enjoy this hilarious little parody that celebrates the absurdity of it all.    

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Ten Things Megyn Kelly Actually Said. Really.

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From the moment it debuted last year, “Today with Megyn Kelly” has been met with groans and eyerolls from many viewers and those in the media — and the periodically aired “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” . While we can all acknowledge that speaking on a regular basis in front of a live studio audience must have enormous challenges, Kelly is earning literally millions and millions of dollars for what she does — so the bar is high indeed.

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‘Sopranos’ Prequel Movie ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ in the Works

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If you did not stop believing, here, at long last, is your reward. A long-rumored “Sopranos” prequel has been given the green light, Deadline reports. “The Many Saints of Newark,” a screenplay from “Sopranos” creator David Chase, has been picked up by New Line Cinema, the report says. “The Many Saints of Newark,” a screenplay from “Sopranos” creator David Chase, has been picked up by New Line Cinema, the report says. The story is reportedly set in 1960s Newark, around the time of the Newark riots.

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The Fix Is In: Davidson County Election Commission Ignores Plain Meaning of Law, Votes 3 to 2 to Set August 2 Date for Mayoral Election

Tennessee Star Staff

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Three of the five members of the Davidson County Election Commission ignored the plain meaning of Tennessee law and voted to set August 2, 2018 as the date for the special election to select a new mayor of Nashville late Friday afternoon, thereby plunging the city into a likely firestorm of lawsuits and threatening the legitimacy of an election held on that date. The meeting was convened in response to the resignation of Mayor Megan Barry on March 6, and the swearing in of Vice Mayor David Briley the same day as acting mayor. Briley has already declared that he will be a candidate for mayor in the upcoming special election. Commission Chairman Jim DeLanis, Commissioner Jesse Neil, and Commissioner Emily Reynolds, all Republicans, formed the three member majority who voted in favor of the motion to set the election date at August 2. Commissioner Tricia Herzfeld and Commissioner A.J. Starling, both Democrats, formed the two member minority who voted against the motion. By the same three to two margin, the commission rejected an earlier motion by Commissioner Herzfeld, an attorney, to submit a request for declaratory judgment before the Chancery Court on Monday to obtain an official ruling…

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