Day: March 28, 2018

Judge Grants a Delay in Williamson County School Superintendent Mike Looney’s Court Date

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Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney was granted a delay in his court date, originally scheduled to be held Tuesday, for a period of one month until Wednesday, April 25, by a Williamson County judge. At issue is a single charge of simple assault following a bizarre series of events culminating in Looney allegedly accosting a student and forcing her into his personal vehicle – a Class A Misdemeanor. As reported by The Tennessee Star, Looney said in an open letter to WCS staff earlier this month that he was recently diagnosed with a tumor on his pancreas, and that he would “be taking several weeks off” as he undergoes treatment: I need to share a little bit of news so that you can learn it from me rather than another source. I would much rather not share things of a personal nature, but given my role in the district, it really can’t be avoided. I very recently learned that I have a tumor in my pancreas. At this point, I am planning on having surgery toward the end of this month and unfortunately will need to take several weeks off for recovery. (emphasis added) The central office staff is wholly prepared to support…

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‘Fast Eddie’ Smith Declines Dialogue With The Tennessee Star On His Transit Improvement District Act

Laura Baigert
State Rep "Fast Eddie" Smith

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – On Tuesday State Rep. “Fast Eddie” Smith (R-Knoxville), House sponsor of the Transit Improvement District Act, which is an amendment under “caption bill” HB2361, declined The Tennessee Star’s offer to discuss his bill as previously reported. With multiple unanswered questions and several proposed amendments, the bill was rolled one week in the House Transportation Committee later that day. One hour prior to the House Transportation Committee meeting Tuesday, Chairman State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma) held a bill review, which is relatively standard practice for all committees in order to address members’ issues or concerns with the bills that are on that day’s committee calendar. During Tuesday’s bill review, State Rep. Smith, who also sits on the House Transportation Committee, gave a brief description of the project not previously made public, saying the rail to be used is a spur that goes about 15 miles between the airport and what is being developed as the new downtown Alcoa and World’s Fair Park near UT. Where a transit station is located, those joining the District “will willingly self-assess themselves to help pay for this, because they are going to reap the benefit from the train stops and it would…

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Marsha Blackburn Pushes for Universal Privacy Standards after Facebook Data Breach

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Rep. Marsha Blackburn said Tuesday that she wants to ask Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about universal privacy standards. “I would ask him if he would agree to privacy standards that are in statute, in federal statute, that he would agree to one set of privacy standards for the entire ecosystem – both your internet service provider and your edge providers,” Ms. Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, said on Fox News.

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Diane Black Releases a Comprehensive Economic Plan to ‘Make Sure Every Tennessean Has the Opportunity to Live Their Version of the American Dream’

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Gubernatorial candidate Diane Black released what she says is a “comprehensive plan to lift up rural communities in Tennessee and make sure every Tennessean has the opportunity to live their version of the American Dream.” “Tennessee’s economy is on the move, but not every part of our state is experiencing the economic boom,” Black said in a statement, adding: Our rural communities, which make up 60% of our state, are the lifeblood of our state, but aren’t seeing the same success as areas like Nashville. We need policies coming out of Nashville that help lift up those rural communities, rather than further their economic decline. I will fight from day one to make sure that we leave no town behind and every person in our state has the opportunity to live their version of the American Dream. Diane Black’s plan – an outline of which was provided by the campaign and is published in full below – is aimed at strengthening Tennessee’s economy and to “Leave No Town Behind” Promote Rural Infrastructure and Educational Opportunity:  I will prioritize the infrastructure needs of rural communities.  But it’s not a one-size-fits-all problem. Where the need is broadband, I will support solutions that allow…

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Rep. Doug Lamborn: Pentagon Rejects Atheist ‘Chaplain’

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by CHQ Staff   In a cultural conservative victory for common sense the Navy has rejected a secular-humanist’s application to serve in the Navy Chaplain Corps. Our friend Dr. William Scott Magill of Veterans in Defense of Liberty and principled limited government constitutional conservative Republican Representatives Doug Lamborn (CO-5) and Vicki Hartzler (MO-4) led the fight to deny outspoken atheist and secular humanist Jason Heap’s appointment to the Chaplain Corps. Lamborn and Hartzler rallied forty-three Members of Congress to support the position that fundamentally, the chaplain corps is a religious institution that should ascribe to the religious needs of men and women in uniform. An individual with an avowed opposition to religion itself cannot fulfill the mission and duties of a chaplain, no matter how accomplished the candidate may be said Reps. Lamborn and Hartzler. “The very definition of the chaplaincy was at stake here, so I am relieved to see the Navy’s response,” Rep. Lamborn said. “Appointing a secular-humanist or atheist chaplain would have gone against everything the chaplaincy was created to do. I applaud the Navy for upholding a traditional definition of the chaplaincy, which has been repeatedly confirmed by Congress and the DOD. The installment of an atheist…

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Commentary: DC Swamp Creatures Loved Status Quo Until Trump Came to Town

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by Jeffrey A. Rendall   If you’re a Republican consultant and charter member of the DC swamp, what do you tell your clients to say about President Donald Trump these days? Just when it appeared as though the GOP was emerging from its self-imposed political exile after the push to pass tax relief last December all heck’s breaking lose now as we move towards the end of March. The Republican Congress can’t do anything right – it won’t move on immigration, the budget’s bloated way out of control (thanks in part to continuing to fund Obamacare insurance bailouts), snowflake teenagers are all over TV spouting off about gun control and the media’s in a tizzy over the rumored firing of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. Are foreign actors controlling the news narrative? There’s so much chaos…it’s possible. And then there’s Trump, the Twitter-happy chief executive who (literally) loves pushing buttons – on his phone and on those around him who are easily annoyed. David M. Drucker of the Washington Examiner wrote, “House Republicans were relying heavily on the $1.4 trillion tax overhaul to counteract concerns about the president and revive their 2018 fortunes, burdened with traditional midterm headwinds made exponentially worse by dissatisfaction with…

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Machete-Wielding, Would-Be Kidnapper Thwarted By Hero Walmart Employees

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Thirty-three year old Billy Yoe Budier-Herrera was arrested Friday after police say he walked into a Louisiana Walmart with a machete and tried to kidnap a two-year-old and then an infant. According to a statement by the Kenner Police Department, Budier-Herrera entered the store and in broad daylight, approached a woman with a 2-year-old son. The attacker threatened the boy  to his mother with a machete tucked in his belt to force her to cooperate with his demands, and when the woman cried for help, Budier-Herrera grabbed the two year old out of the cart. The boy’s mother fought back, saved her son, and hid behind a nearby deli counter. Walmart employees ran to the woman’s aid and surrounded Budier-Herrera, who pulled out his machete and swung it at employees into order to prevent them from capturing him. Police say that as Budier-Herrera tried to make his escape, he tried to grab another child – an infant: “While armed with the machete, Budier-Herrera attempted to remove the infant from the grocery cart but was prevented from doing so because of the seat strap.” Before he could get away, the attacker was tackled by store employees, along with an off-duty Kenner police officer, who was working at the store. While being…

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Obama-Era Racial and Income Rezoning Scheme, ‘Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing’ Defunded in Omnibus

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By Robert Romano   One good thing that came out of the omnibus spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump is that it defunds a key aspect of the Obama era Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulation, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. This was the rule enacted in 2015 that allowed HUD to order more than 1,200 cities and counties that accepted any part of $3 billion of annual community development block grants to rezone neighborhoods along income and racial criteria. This was always a vast overreach, where the federal government could come in and tell communities what must be built and where. Now, it’s over. Under Division L, Title II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, Section 234, it states, “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to direct a grantee to undertake specific changes to existing zoning laws as part of carrying out the final rule entitled ‘Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing’ … or the notice entitled ‘Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Assessment Tool’ …” This provision utterly guts the HUD regulation, which had already been delayed by HUD Secretary Ben Carson earlier this year until 2020. Now, with the backing…

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Harwell Calls on State Rep. David Byrd, Sponsor of Bill to Arm Teachers in Classrooms, to Resign after Hearing Audio That Alleges Misconduct 30 Years Ago

Tennessee Star Staff
Speaker Beth Harwell and State Rep David Byrd

On Tuesday Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) called on State Rep. David Byrd (R-Waynesboro), the sponsor of a bill that would allow teachers to be armed while in school, to resign after hearing an inconclusive audio recording of a phone conversation he had last month with a woman who now claims that he engaged in sexual misconduct against her more than 30 years ago when he served as her basketball coach. As The Tennessee Star reported last week, Byrd’s bill to allow trained teachers to be armed, HB 2208, passed the House Civil Justice Committee last week and was scheduled to be heard in the House Education Administration and Planning Committee on Tuesday afternoon. Sources tell The Star that Harwell asked Byrd to drop his bill to arm teachers a week ago, and he refused to do so. The surfacing of the charges, combined with Harwell’s sudden rush to call for Byrd’s resignation, is nothing but a political hit job on her part, sources tell The Star. Harwell’s rush to judgement came without hearing Byrd’s side of the story or availing Byrd of the investigative process which is the right of any member of the state legislature against whom an ethical misconduct charge has been filed. As…

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