Day: November 28, 2018

Controversial Thompson’s Station Mayor Napier Re-Elected by 11 Votes After Provisional Ballots Counted

Julie Carr

  Williamson County Election Administrator Chad Gray says that all provisional and contested ballots in the November 6 election for Thompson’s Station Mayor have been tabulated and that current Mayor Corey Napier has won by 11 votes. Napier defeated challenger Mike Roberts by receiving 1,283 total votes to Roberts’ 1,272 votes. Napier had a 12 vote margin when votes were counted on Election Day and until provisional votes were included, after which Roberts picked up one additional vote. Of six provisional ballots cast in Thompson’s Station, only one counted in the final tally. That vote went to Roberts. Napier’s time as Mayor has been surrounded by controversy, including ongoing lawsuits and contentious Board of Mayor and Alderman meetings.  Napier has also seen his wages as Mayor garnished due to unpaid personal taxes.  His extremely narrow margin of victory is unlikely to diminish the conflicts that his leadership has created. One of Napier’s allies on the Board of Mayor and Alderman was re-elected on November 6, Brandon Bell. Shaun Alexander will replace Ben Dilks, who did not seek reelection. Alexander ran his race in close cooperation with the Roberts’ campaign. One of the critical issues the City must address immediately is…

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Good Jobs First, National Watchdog Group, Blasts Amazon Deal That Includes Nashville

Chris Butler

Government officials are “whipsawed” into handing out corporate welfare and other tax incentives to companies like Amazon, as they did this month in Tennessee, among other places, according to the head of a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit. This is especially true as government officials try to entice a company to come to their state when they know those company officials have other options. Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First (pictured, above), said as much in an op-ed this week in The New York Daily News. According to its website, Good Jobs First is a policy resource center that promotes corporate and government accountability in economic development. “In game theory, public officials are in the ‘prisoners’ dilemma.’ They aren’t told who they are competing against, and if they find out, they know they must not communicate with their peers. Their job is to supply data — and the biggest possible subsidy package — and hope for the best. They may intensely dislike this game’s rules, but know they must conform, lest they be blacklisted by site consultants shopping the next deal,” LeRoy wrote. “When a press release is issued, giving a politician a powerful re-election gift, the spin emphasizes the…

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Medicaid Improperly Billed in Columbia, Audit Says

Chris Butler

A Columbia nursing facility improperly billed Medicaid nearly $5,000, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released Monday. In their audit, Comptrollers called out the Life Care Center of Columbia. This audit comes as several mainstream media outlets in Tennessee seem to urge state leaders to expand Medicaid. The most recent one was The Daily Memphian, in a glowing piece about newly-elected State Rep. Jesse Chism, D-Memphis. But, as Monday’s audit and many others reveal, people tasked with handling Medicaid expenses often make mistakes and bill the taxpayers more than necessary. According to the audit, Life Care Center of Columbia improperly billed the Medicaid Program for 31 noncovered days from 2014 through 2016. “Of the improperly billed days, 27 were for hospital or therapeutic leave days when the facility was operating below 85 percent occupancy, one was for a hospital leave day that exceeded the 10-day leave rule, and three were billed after a resident was discharged from the facility,” auditors wrote. The facility, Comptrollers went on to say, should refund $4,811 to the Medicaid Program. In another finding, Comptrollers said staff members inappropriately charged Medicaid residents’ trust fund accounts for shampoos and haircuts, which are Medicaid- covered services. “As a…

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Commentary: Go Big Mr. President: Close the Southern Border

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By Conservative HQ Staff   Yesterday, our friend independent investigative journalist Sara Carter passed along a tweet from President Trump saying, “Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!” Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018 The President’s comment came in response to an assault on our border at the San Ysidro port of entry where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it suspended northbound and southbound crossings for both pedestrians and vehicles for more than four hours on Sunday. The vehicle lanes re-opened at approximately 5 p.m. local time, five-and-a-half hours after they were closed. Fox News reported that CBP said…

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US ‘Extremely Committed to Getting to Mars,’ NASA Administrator Says

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by Alex Christy   NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is looking to the future of Mars exploration after NASA successfully landed its InSight Mars Lander on Monday. “This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon,” Bridenstine said of the success of InSight’s landing on the Martian surface, according to a NASA press release Monday. Bridenstine addressed NASA’s future after receiving a congratulatory phone call from Vice President Mike Pence, according to Space. “You ask what’s happening next? Right now, at NASA there is more underway probably than since I don’t know how many years past. It’s like there’s a drought and all of a sudden all these activities at once. So, we’re busy. We’re going to be working through the holiday — a lot of amazing discoveries to be made, and we’re looking forward to them,” Bridenstine said. Bridenstine views the Trump administration’s priority of returning to the moon as NASA’s first step to an eventual manned mission to Mars, Space reports. Trump’s memorandum from December 2017 states America will go beyond…

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Amazon’s Use of Hush Agreements With Local Governments Facing Political Consequences

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by Evie Fordham   Amazon’s announcement Nov. 13 that it would split its second headquarters between New York City and Arlington, Virginia, is having some unintended political ramifications. Many of the 238 cities that competed for Amazon HQ2 signed nondisclosure agreements with the company as the parties discussed incentive packages, some of which topped $7 billion. Amazon will likely receive tax incentive packages worth more than $2 billion to build in both New York and Virginia. Local legislators are pushing back against the practice that existed long before Amazon announced the contest for HQ2, reported The Wall Street Journal. For example, a Democratic New York state senator plans to propose legislation to ban governments from signing nondisclosure agreements with private companies, reported The New York Daily News. “The balance of power has tipped way too far in favor of big-moneyed interests and it is past time to fight back and reclaim it for the people,” state Sen. Mike Gianaris said, according to The New York Daily News. “The idea that we can have private corporate interests dictating to governments that they’re not allowed to talk to the people and reveal what they’re doing with their money is insane on many levels.” Gianaris represents Queens,…

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Bernie Sanders Opens Up On Whether He’s Running For President In 2020

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by Molly Prince   Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders revealed on Monday that he will “probably” launch a bid for president if another candidate does not emerge who is more likely to beat President Donald Trump in 2020. “If there’s somebody else who appears who can, for whatever reason, do a better job than me, I’ll work my ass off to elect him or her,” Sanders said in an interview with New York Magazine. “If it turns out that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump, then I will probably run.” Sanders, who unsuccessfully ran a 2016 presidential campaign as a Democrat, asserted that while he does not particularly desire to hold the position, the ideas he espouses are best for the country. “I’m not one of those sons of multimillionaires whose parents told them they were going to become president of the United States,” Sanders continued. “I don’t wake up in the morning with any burning desire that I have to be president.” The Vermont senator has frequently criticized Trump both politically and personally, however, he has recently heated up his rhetoric against the president. “We must be honest and straightforward and say that we have a president…

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Herman Cain Commentary: Five Things We Can Be Thankful For in the Trump Era

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by Herman Cain   It’s the season of gratitude and time to take measure of the great ways we can appreciate all that we have as Americans. Here are five things that Donald Trump has done for our country, for which we can all be grateful as one nation. Historic Prosperity GDP data strongly indicate that the American economy is on pace to grow by more than 3 percent in 2018 — maybe even 3.5 percent. Democrats like Barack Obama said it couldn’t be done — that sluggish growth of 2 percent or less was the “new normal” and we should just get used to it. I, for one, am thankful President Trump proved that those pessimistic projections were utter nonsense. In just 22 months, President Trump has delivered historic levels of job creation. Unemployment is at an all-time low for Black and Hispanic Americans. Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high. Wages are growing for ordinary Americans. Small business confidence is at a 45-year high. American manufacturing operations are hiring once again. There’s something for everyone to be thankful for in this economy. Avoided Foreign Wars Compared to his predecessors, fewer U.S. servicemen and women have been deployed overseas thanks to President Trump’s judicious use of the American military. This is not…

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Commentary: The Invaders and Their Media Allies

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by Pedro Gonzalez   There is a war on for hearts and minds of Americans, and it began long before the first shots were fired on Sunday along the United States-Mexico border, when federal agents deployed tear gas against aggressive foreign nationals attempting to force their way into our country. But the media coverage of the border skirmish is more telling of the nature of this conflict than canisters of lachrymator. There are three news clippings that might illustrate this point. CNN, to start, placed scrambling Central American “families with young children” in the limelight of the clash, yet didn’t show those same people hurling large stones in the direction of American law enforcement, many of whom presumably have families with young children, too. ABC News, on the other hand, didn’t mention at all that foreign nationals endangered federal agents. “Children were screaming and coughing in the mayhem” that, if one were to read nothing but ABC’s “The Latest,” would seem to have been induced spasmodically by trigger-happy Border Patrol—who, for what it’s worth, are mostly Latino. The worst offender was perhaps the Associated Press. Making no mention of projectile attacks by foreign nationals directed at Americans, the AP quoted…

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Twitter Bans Misgendering Trans People but Allows Porn

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by Grace Carr   Twitter banned the use of biological pronouns to refer to transgender persons, adding a clause prohibiting the practice to its policy regarding hateful conduct. The social media platform updated its policies on hateful conduct in October, but the move wasn’t largely noticed until Friday and Saturday when users began commenting on the change, Pink News reported. “Targeted harassment or expressing hate towards a person, group, or protected category,” is banned, according to Twitter’s Hateful Conduct Policy. The media platform also writes it is “committed to combating abuse motivated by hatred, prejudice or intolerance.” ” … targeted mis-gendering or dead naming of transgender individuals,” is also banned, according to the updated policy rules. Mis-gendering refers to using biological pronouns for a transgender person as opposed to pronouns that accord with their new gender identity. Dead naming refers to using the “dead name,” the name they used before transitioning, to describe or address a transgender person. Conservative speaker Ben Shapiro commented on the change. So Twitter is now banning people for stating the basic scientific fact that men are men and women are women, and that men cannot become women simply by thinking themselves so. Twitter vs. reality. https://t.co/Ur6ap8zNUN — Ben Shapiro…

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GM’s Mass Layoff Includes Eliminating a Hybrid Car Obama Once Championed

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by Chris White   General Motor’s decision to restructure and layoff thousands of employees Monday includes eliminating a hybrid vehicle former President Barack Obama once called the car of the future for the Detroit company. GM said Monday that it will cut roughly 14,000 people in North America and will idle factories in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Canada. The layoffs come as the company focuses on manufacturing electric vehicles over gas-powered sedans. Politicians and ordinary citizens are blasting the decision. “It’s all about greed. It’s all about putting more in their pockets,” one employee said, according to CBS. “The bad thing is to get this news on the day after we come back from Thanksgiving,” another employee noted. “GM owes the community answers on how the rest of the supply chain will be impacted & what consequences its disastrous decision will have” Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, wrote in a tweet following the announcement. The bulk of the cuts include 8,000 salaried jobs, making it the largest cutbacks since GM went bankrupt and was bailed out by taxpayers during the 2008 financial crisis. One victim of the move is the Chevrolet Volt, a hybrid car Obama once championed. “I got to get…

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Commentary: Four Problems With the New Climate Change Report

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by Nicolas Loris   If you’re like me, you’re happy the White House released the latest version of the National Climate Assessment on Black Friday. Publishing the 1,700-page report the day after Thanksgiving saved me from unwanted dinner conversations about our planet’s impending climate doom. But if your aunt calls you up this week spouting claims of mass deaths, global food shortages, economic destruction, and national security risks resulting from climate change, here’s what you need to know about this report. 1. It wildly exaggerates economic costs. One statistic that media outlets have seized upon is that the worst climate scenario could cost the U.S. 10 percent of its gross domestic product by 2100.  The 10 percent loss projection is more than twice the percentage that was lost during the Great Recession. The study, funded in part by climate warrior Tom Steyer’s organization, calculates these costs on the assumption that the world will be 15 degrees Fahrenheit warmer. That temperature projection is even higher than the worst-case scenario predicted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In other words, it is completely unrealistic. 2. It assumes the most extreme (and least likely) climate scenario. The scary projections in…

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In Missouri, Media and Organizers Overlook Power Struggle Threatening Women’s March in Kansas City

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To protest the second anniversary of the inauguration of President Donald Trump, two area groups, Unity Southeast in Kansas City and Love Thy Neighbor-Kansas City, will host the “Women’s March KC 2019.” For all the talk of love and unity, however, the wheels may be coming off the movement. Time will tell whether the organizers and their media enablers will face up to the disorder within. As to details, marchers will walk from Kansas City Brookside area to Swope Park on January 19 “to demand equality for ALL humans.” To be more accurate, most humans. The “all” decidedly does not include the unborn. Nationally, organizers were not even subtle about excluding pro-life women two years ago. For just about everyone else–save, of course, for cis-gendered, native born white males–the march will come as desperately needed therapy. During the last year, organizers tell us, “basic rights for women, immigrants, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, the religious and nonreligious, people of color and even Mother Earth have struggled to survive under the weight of the current administration.” Buttressed as they are by the media, progressives see no need to honor reality. In their eagerness to portray themselves as victims, they imagine the most…

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Bedford County Board Does Not Currently Have Plans to Review Mexican Rodeo’s Permit to Sell Beer

Chris Butler

The Mexican rodeo in Bedford County where an alleged illegal immigrant was said to have gotten intoxicated before he killed someone in a car crash still has a license to sell beer. Authorities, however, have gotten certain complaints about that establishment, Rancho La Herradura, said Troy Thompson, chair of the county’s five-member Beer Board, which grants permits to businesses to sell beer. Thompson said he and his colleagues on the board haven’t gotten any phone complaints about Rancho La Herradura — but they heard a few last week, at a county Rules and Legislative Committee meeting. “We had a full courtroom of concerned citizens. We have heard complaints since that time,” Thompson told The Tennessee Star Tuesday, when asked if board members plan to suspend the Mexican rodeo’s permit to sell beer. “We don’t have anything factual to take action on, but the people in our Circuit Clerk Office are supposed to be working on something.” County commissioners, whom Thompson did not identify, have also contacted him to complain about Rancho La Herradura, he said. Thompson also said he and his fellow board members are awaiting the results of a Tennessee Highway Patrol report on the establishment and Edgar Torres-Rangel.…

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