Day: May 3, 2018

Predators Beat the Jets 2 to 1 to Even the Series, Head Back Home for Game 5 on Saturday

Tennessee Star Staff
Preds

The Nashville Predators came through in the clutch, beating the Winnipeg Jets by a 2 to 1 margin in the fourth game of the Western Conference semi-finals of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday, evening the series at 2 games apiece. Game 5 will be played at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and Saturday night, and fans around Middle Tennessee are expected to clamor into downtown Nashville to watch the game inside the arena, and outside and large watch parties. Ryan Hartman staked the Predators to a 1-0 lead at the 17:20 mark of the first period with an unassisted goal that quieted the raucous Winnipeg crowd. P.K. Subban gave Nashville a 2-0 lead at the 14:36 mark of the second period with a power play goal and assists from Flip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen. But in the third period, the Jets got some of their offensive mojo back when Patrick Laine scored on a power play at the 19:09 mark. In the end, it was a case of too little too late for the Jets, and the momentum in the series, tied now at two games apiece, swings back to the Predators. Expect to see a lot of “throwing that…

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WWE Wrestler Jacobs Wins Knox County Mayor Primary by 17 Votes

Jason M. Reynolds

WWE wrestler Glenn Jacobs has won the Republican primary for Knox County mayor by a margin of only 17 votes, WATE reported. The Knox County Election Commission says there are, however, a few provisional ballots, so the results won’t be official until next week. Jacobs, a former WWE wrestler aka “Kane,” and insurance agent, faced off against county commissioners Brad Anders and Bob Thomas. The election was not without issues, WKYT reported. Just before 10:15 p.m. on Election Day, the Knox County Election Commission website showed Jacobs with a 17-vote lead taking the candidacy over Anders in the primary election. While Jacobs called it a “WWE finish” to sister station WVLT, Anders said he was not conceding until the provisional ballots have been counted. According to Knox County officials, the county website failed Tuesday night, and election results were delayed as a result of a computer problem, WKYT said. Cliff Rodgers with the Knox County Election Commission said they experienced a “widespread denial of services attack.” The Knox County Election Commission told WVLT that they had recorded 43 provisional ballots for all races, according to WKYT. Of those 43 ballots, 38 were classified as “green,” meaning they were submitted by people who had…

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State Sen. Mark Green Calls for Special Session of Tennessee General Assembly to Override Gov. Haslam Veto of Cancer Patient Bill

Tennessee Star Staff

State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) and State Rep. Bob Ramsey (R-Maryville) have called on the Tennessee General Assembly to reconvene for a special session to override the Governor Bill Haslam’s veto of the Cancer Patient Choice Act. That Act, which gives patients and their physicians the choice of proton therapy for cancer treatment, passed the Senate 29-1-1 and the House 85-13. “Let’s remember where this begins: A physician and patient. The physician makes a recommendation for what he thinks or she thinks is best for the patient. Next, the pa-tient decides they want that. But then, the insurance companies step in,” State Sen. Green, a medical doctor who is running for the Republican nomination for the House of Representatives in the 7th Congressional District, said. “Unfortunately, the Governor has chosen to side with the insurance companies and their vendors–ignoring what physicians and their patients have decided is best,” Green added. The authors of the bill agreed creating a special process was not ideal and placed the bill into summer study last year. The Haslam administration was given 18 months to find a solution, but when that failed, the General Assembly took action and overwhelmingly passed this bill to protect both…

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Transit Tax Debacle Winners and Losers

Tennessee Star Staff

by Steve Gill   Any election or referendum has a clear winner and loser after the votes are count-ed. The margins may be wide or slim, but the results are there in black and white. Every election cycle also produces less apparent winners and losers who were not on the ballot, and that is definitely the case with the Nashville transit tax battle. So, who were the winners and losers in the Barry-Briley Transit Tax referendum that was rejected by a nearly two to one margin? WINNERS 1. NASHVILLE TAXPAYERS, who avoided an unnecessary $9 billion boondoggle that would not have improved traffic congestion nor fixed Nashville roads and bridges. More importantly, they dodged having one of the highest sales tax rates in the country! 2. TAXPAYERS IN SURROUNDING COUNTIES, who would have been among those paying about 47% of the taxes for the Nashville transit scheme that would not have improved commuter traffic nor roads leading in to Nashville. 3. EVERY CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR NOT NAMED BRILEY, since every candidate for Mayor in the May 24th special election not named Briley was on the side of the 64% of Nashville voters who rejected the Briley tax increase. 4. THE…

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Sponsor of Anti-Sanctuary City Bill Rep. Jay Reedy Asks Newspaper to Correct ‘Incomplete and Misleading’ Information in Articles About His Bill

Chris Alto
State Rep Jay Reedy

Rep. Jay Reedy, sponsor of the anti-sanctuary city legislation passed by overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly, has asked The Tennessean’s editor to correct “incomplete and misleading information” in two of the newspaper’s articles written about his bill. In support of his request, Reedy cited to the Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms posted on the paper’s website: WE ARE COMMITTED TO: I. Seeking and reporting the truth in a truthful way We will be honest in the way we gather, report and present news – with relevancy, persistence, context, thoroughness, balance, and fairness in mind. We will seek to gain understanding of the communities, individuals and issues we cover to provide an informed account of activities. We will hold factual information in editorials and other opinion pieces to the same standards of accuracy as news stories. We will treat information from unofficial sources, which may include social media, with skepticism and will seek to corroborate information. When considering news content created outside of the Network, we will factor the credibility of the source and weigh the value and accuracy of information provided. Specifically, Reedy’s letter points to two stories which omitted a key fact leaving readers to…

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Tennessee Republican Party Calls on Democrats to Invalidate Nomination of Candidate Who Voted in GOP Primary

Tennessee Star Staff

On Wednesday, the Tennessee Republican Party called on the State Primary Board for the Democratic Party “to invalidate the nomination of Anne McGraw for Williamson County Commission.” “During early voting, Anne McGraw, a Democratic candidate herself on the May 1 primary ballot, opted to vote in the Republican primary. This decision demonstrates a malicious intent to tamper with the democratic process,” the Tennessee Republican Party said in a statement, adding: According to TCA 2-7-115: (b) A registered voter is entitled to vote in a primary election for offices for which the voter is qualified to vote at the polling place where the voter is registered if: (1) The voter is a bona fide member of and affiliated with the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote (2) At the time the voter seeks to vote, the voter declares allegiance to the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote and states that the voter intends to affiliate with that party. Being herself a candidate and therefore bona fide member of the Tennessee Democratic Party who is running for their nomination, Anne McGraw knowingly violated the spirit of Tennessee election law. “The sanctity of our elections…

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University of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport Fired

Admin

The first woman Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Beverly Davenport, has been fired effective July 1 although she will remain on the payroll as a tenured professor of Communications. Davenport began her tenure as Chancellor in February, 2017 but was terminated by President Joe DiPietro for a number of reasons, which he cited in a letter to Davenport. “As I indicated to you last Tuesday, I do not think you can be successful as the leader of our flagship campus and have decided that it is best to move forward with a change in leadership rather than putting you on a formal performance improvement plan,” DiPietro said in the letter. When Davenport takes assumes her position as a professor, she will be receiving 75 percent of her initial base salary as professor for four years, approximately $439,000 per year, at which time her pay will be adjusted to the average base salary of a full professor. She is being immediately placed on administrative leave with pay until June 30. To call DiPietro’s termination letter to Davenport scathing could be an understatement, as he detailed her failings and refusal to address concerns that had been expressed to her earlier. Here…

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Nashville Draws $70 Million Corporate Finance Headquarters

Jason M. Reynolds

A global asset management firm will build a $70 million corporate headquarters in Nashville, the state announced in a press release Wednesday, May 2. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe and AllianceBernstein L.P. (AB) officials made the announcement. The relocation of its company headquarters will create more than 1,000 corporate jobs, including positions in finance, IT, operations, legal, compliance, internal audit, human resources, sales and marketing, WSMV reported. “Tennessee is home to many world-renowned brands and we’re extremely proud to welcome AllianceBernstein, a global financial leader, to Nashville,” Haslam said in a press release. “Tennessee’s pro-growth policies continue to attract international companies to our state, providing fantastic job opportunities for our citizens. AB’s decision to bring 1,050 corporate office jobs to Nashville is an incredible win for our state and shows that Tennessee will lead in creating high quality jobs.” Rolfe said in the press release, “Since 2011, Tennessee’s financial industry has grown at the second fastest rate in the Southeast, creating approximately 24,500 jobs.” The year-long search for a new location started with 30 cities. In the end, Bernstein said Nashville was the clear choice, WSMV reported. AllianceBernstein’s headquarters are currently in New York…

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State Sen. Mark Green, M.D. Commentary: When Government Becomes Too Powerful

Tennessee Star Staff

After five days off life support, 23-month old Alfie Evans died over the weekend. Having a neurodegenerative disorder, doctors didn’t expect him to live long–but Alfie fought and hung in there for nearly a week. Alfie’s parents wanted to take him to a hospital in Rome for further treatment, but the boy’s doctors disagreed, and the British courts sided with the doctors. The Italian hospital not only offered to take Alfie, Italy even granted him citizenship and had a plane ready so he could immediately be flown over. But the British government said no, and stationed police at the hospital to prevent Alfie’s parents from taking him to Rome–or even taking him home. As parents, my wife Camie and I are outraged, and join millions across the world in mourning Alfie and hurting with his parents. Our son had cancer as a child and I couldn’t even fathom how we would’ve felt if any doctor or court ever told us we couldn’t choose where to treat him. As a physician, I understand that some conditions in this fallen world are indeed incurable. But I also know–because I’ve seen it firsthand–that sometimes the impossible can happen and the incurable can be…

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Black Lives Matter Leader and Statue Destroyer Wins Democratic Primary for Shelby County Commissioner Seat

Chris Alto

Tami Sawyer, a leader in the Memphis Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and organizer of the #TakeEmDown901 activists that resulted in removing Confederate statues in the city, won the Democratic primary to represent District 7 on the Shelby County Commission Tuesday, WREG reported. Sawyer won with 50 percent of the vote, followed by Stephanie Greenwood, who won 36 percent of the vote. Eric Dunn finished in third place with 14 percent of the vote. She will face Republican Samuel Goff, who was unopposed in his primary, in the August general election. During the August 2017 Confederate statue protest during which protestors surrounded police cars, seven people were arrested. According to Sawyer, BLM posted bail for them. The BLM movement was launched by co-founders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a black Florida teenager. In no short order, BLM became known for protests involving property destruction and violence, oftentimes directed at police. All three of BLM’s co-founders have been connected in some way with one or more of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s (FRSO) groups. FRSO, one of the four largest radical Left organizations in the…

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