March 23, 2019 - Tennessee Star

Haslam Talks About Possible 2020 Senate Run with His Friend, Vice President Mike Pence

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

Former Gov. Bill Haslam reportedly met with Vice President Mike Pence to talk about possibly running for the Senate, and Pence encouraged him to make the bid, Politico reported. Haslam has been interested in running for the seat being vacated next year by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). Haslam and Pence met Wednesday to talk about the potential run, WREG said. Haslam said he would decide sometime in this spring. U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07) and Dr. Manish “Manny” Sethi have also shown interest in running, the station said. Pence and Haslam drum up a friendship when Pence became governor of Indiana in 2013, and the men worked together as governors, WBIR said. The vice president notwithstanding, Tennessee’s former governor may have worn out his welcome among conservatives. The Club for Growth Action, a conservative Super PAC, earlier in March released a video aimed at discouraging Haslam from running for Alexander’s seat, The Tennessee Star reported. The video, titled “Dirty Laundry,” is available to watch here. Club for Growth Action’s video shows what it alleges is a history of Haslam “profiting from his business interest, which had been infected with fraud, racist rants, and practices designed to exploit Hispanic and other…

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Ruth, a Local Teacher, Calls in to The Tennessee Star Report and Explains the Difference Between a Lesson Plan and a Calendar

March 23, 2019March 23, 2019 Julie Carr

On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the team discussed how Williamson County Schools failed to follow Tennessee State law by submitting a calendar for the academic year instead of the legally required in-service plan to the Tennessee Department of Education for approval of the controversial “white privilege” in-service training delivered to the system’s teachers this year. A local teacher named Ruth called in and explained the difference between a lesson plan and a school calendar and also offered some detailed information on the topic: Gill: Let’s go to Ruth. Ruth wanted to talk a little bit about the distinction between a plan and what the state of Tennessee and Williamson county and others are doing in terms of their in-service training calendar. Ruth welcome to the Tennessee Star Report. Ruth: Good morning. Hi. I am a teacher and anybody in education knows that there is a massive difference between a school calendar and a plan. As teachers, we’re required to have lesson plans. And I can’t just write down I’m going to teach math today. I have to…

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Commentary: Congress Is to Blame for the Trump Administration Reverting Back to ‘Catch and Release’

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

by James Carafano Reports have surfaced, citing government officials, that border officials no longer will refer detained migrant families to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Instead, due to constrained resources, they will “begin releasing hundreds of families caught each day in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.” As a result, tens of thousands will join the ranks of millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States. This practice contradicts the Trump administration’s promise to end “catch and release” and to detain illegal immigrants until they are deported. Technically this does not repudiate current policy, but it offers more proof that there is, in fact, a real crisis at the border. Detention before removal is by far the most effective means to ensure that illegal immigrants comply with lawful deportation. At present, the Immigration Reform Law Institute estimates there are about 1.7 million individuals in the U.S. who are unlawfully present and have been ordered to leave the country. Not surprisingly, none of them were in detention when they were ordered to leave. A common tactic to avoid deportation is just not showing up to deported. That problem is growing as migrants have adopted new tactics at the border to…

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SPLC President Richard Cohen Resigns From Embattled Left-Wing Nonprofit

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

by Peter Hasson Southern Poverty Law Center president Richard Cohen resigned Friday, in the latest blow to the embattled left-wing nonprofit. Cohen’s resignation came nine days after the SPLC fired co-founder Morris Dees on March 13, citing unspecified conduct issues. Cohen announced his resignation in a staff-wide email Friday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported. “Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them,” Cohen’s email read, according to the Times. Current and former SPLC employees have accused the organization of turning a blind eye to sexual harassment and racial discrimination within its own ranks. Cohen took responsibility for unspecified “problems” at the SPLC in a statement released to the Montgomery Advertiser. “Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them,” Cohen said in the statement. Cohen asked the SPLC’s board “to immediately launch a search for an interim president in order to give the organization the best chance to heal,” according to the Advertiser. SPLC employees were long aware of racial issues and sexual harassment within the organization, former SPLC staffer Bob Moser recounted in a scathing essay published in The New Yorker on…

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Commentary: The Real Islamophobia

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

by Rabbi Yaakov Menken While attending a vigil for the shooting victims at two New Zealand mosques last Friday evening, a visibly pregnant Chelsea Clinton was accosted by a pair of left-wing “activists.” The two specifically blamed Clinton for the atrocity. This was a stunning charge. In his 72-page manifesto, the shooter, an Australian national and self-described “eco-fascist” who had previously worked at a gym, never referred to Clinton. Unlike her parents, she has never been much of a polarizing figure. So what was the basis of the accusation that she instigated this evil? The “activists” explained in an opinion column for BuzzFeed: Clinton had “stoked” Islamophobia with her “rhetoric,” having encouraged “a bigoted, anti-Muslim mob coming after Rep. Ilhan Omar for speaking the truth.” According to these activists, Omar did not need to apologize for her vicious and repeated anti-Semitic attacks upon Jews, Israelis, all Americans who support Israel, and her colleagues in the U.S. Congress. On the contrary, they claimed, it was Clinton who needed to apologize—for having condemned anti-Semitic expression with no reference to Omar’s race or religion. But the undeserved tongue-lashing Clinton received does not compare to the fate of Jeanine Pirro. In her opening…

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Illegal Alien Admits to Killing Four People to Score Money for Meth

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

by Jason Hopkins An illegal immigrant confessed during an interrogation that he killed four people because he needed money to purchase meth. Wilbur Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, a 20-year-old from El Salvador living in the U.S. illegally, broke down into tears as he confessed to being behind four gruesome murders in Nevada, a detective told a grand jury on Thursday. Martinez-Guzman, who initially giggled as he denied any involvement in the murders, eventually confessed to doing something “unforgivable” when presented with numerous contradictions in his story. The young Central American was arrested on Jan. 19 and indicted earlier in March for the murders of four individuals. During a rampage that spanned several days in January, Martinez-Guzman allegedly killed Connie Koontz, who was believed to be murdered on Jan 9 or 10, Sophia Renken, who was killed on Jan. 13, and Gerald and Sharon David, whose bodies were found on Jan. 16. It appears Martinez-Guzman, using a stolen .22 caliber handgun, specifically targeted vulnerable victims. Married couple Gerald and Sharon David were 81 and 80 years old, respectively. Renken was a 74-year-old woman, and Koontz was a 56-year-old woman living with her disabled mother. The murders, which took place in Nevada, gained…

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Ex-FBI Official: Fusion GPS Founder Tried to ‘Elevate’ Dossier by Spreading It all Around Washington

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

by Chuck Ross James Baker, the former general counsel for the FBI, told Congress last October that the bureau was aware that the founder of Fusion GPS was spreading the Steele dossier “to a lot of different” people in government and the media in an effort to “elevate” the document’s profile. Baker also told lawmakers in his Oct. 3, 2018 testimony that his longtime friend, the liberal reporter David Corn, was “anxious” to provide him with the dossier. Baker’s testimony, which was first detailed by The Wall Street Journal and has been confirmed by The Daily Caller News Foundation, sheds new light on what the FBI knew about efforts before the election to spread the dossier, which was written by former British spy Christopher Steele and financed by the Clinton campaign and DNC. Republicans have criticized the FBI for failing to disclose those efforts in applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser who is a major target of the Steele report. Some GOP lawmakers have asserted that the FBI should have been leery of Steele and Fusion’s opposition research of Trump. Page has vehemently denied Steele’s allegations that he served…

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Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Mancini Calls Tennessee Racist

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Chris Butler

Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Mancini got caught this week saying Tennessee is a racist state. On her Twitter account Tuesday, Mancini admitted to all of it. “Tomorrow, a story might be published w/ the probable headline of ‘@TNDP chair calls Tennessee a ‘racist state.’ It’s true,” Mancini wrote. “In the heat and the frustration of seeing and hearing the constant drumbeat of bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia coming from Republican Speaker @GlenCasada.” Mancini later wrote she “used a poor choice of words as I vented my frustration.” On their Twitter page, meanwhile, the Tennessee House Republicans called Mancini’s words “crazy.” “‪@TNDemocrats’s Chairman ‪@marymancini doubles down on calling the entire state racist. Never mind that our GOP leaders just passed a resolution condemning all forms of racism,” the Tennessee House Republicans wrote. Candice Dawkins, a staff member with the Tennessee Republican Party, meanwhile, tweeted the following: “This is the kind of positivity the @tndp rejected when they reelected @marymancini as Chair,” Dawkins wrote. “Instead of accept her part in leading her party into a superminority she’d rather generalize an entire state as racist then point the finger at Republicans.” Mancini is the second high-profile Democrat of late to call Tennessee racist. State…

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No More Indictments Coming From Mueller, Undercutting Trump Critics’ Hopes for Russia Probe

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

by Chuck Ross Special counsel Robert Mueller will not issue any additional indictments in the Russia investigation and has not filed any charges under seal, a senior Justice Department official told news outlets Friday. The revelation would seem to be a positive sign for President Donald Trump and several Trump associates who faced legal jeopardy in the Mueller probe. It also means no Trump associates will face charges related to the main focus of the special counsel’s investigation: whether Trump of members of his campaign conspired with Russians to influence the 2016 election. Mueller was appointed special counsel on May 17, 2017. In those 22 months, Mueller has indicted or obtained guilty pleas from six Trump associates, most recently Jan. 24 against longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone. None of the Trump associates faced charges related to contacts with Russia. Mueller provided a report of his investigation Friday to Attorney General William Barr, signaling the end of the probe. Barr notified the leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees that he had received the report and would likely provide more details to Congress over the weekend. Trump critics have long speculated that Mueller would release a slew of indictments…

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Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Ohio Abortion Limit Passed Last Year

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Andrew Shirley

A Senior District Judge is placing a two-week hold on a key provision of an Ohio abortion limit passed in December of last year. On December 13, 2018, then-Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill 145 (SB 145), commonly referred to as a Dismemberment Abortion Ban into law. It is, as reported at the time, “an act that restricts one of the most common methods in which second-trimester abortions are performed. The Dismemberment Abortion Ban, as the bill is known, restricts doctors from performing procedures in which dismemberment of the fetus occurs.” Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, hailed the decision, stating: “Ohioans can sleep easier tonight, knowing that the horrendous practice of dismemberment abortions is behind us…Pro-Life Ohio will not stop until the Abortion Report reads: Zero. Nothing to report” That same day, Kasich vetoed an abortion bill that would have banned all abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Shortly after being signed, Planned Parenthood filed suit against the state on the grounds that the law was unconstitutional. They argued that this law places an “undue burden” on women, one that is explicitly outlawed by Roe v. Wade, stating: Should the Act be allowed to take effect, Plaintiffs’ patients’ health…

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Audit: Maury County School System Fined Nearly $400,000 in IRS Late Fees

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Chris Butler

The Internal Revenue Service has assessed nearly $400,000 in penalties and interests against the Maury County School Department, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released this week. The fines and penalties come from 2016 and 2017, according to the audit. County taxpayers, of course, are the ones who must foot the bill. In the third quarter of 2016, school system officials paid $70,477 in late penalties plus interest. Later that year, in the fourth quarter, IRS officials fined the school system officials a total of $51,498. In the fourth quarter of 2017, the amount the IRS fined the school system was considerably less, only $707. “The School Department paid $79,321 on April 20, 2018, $40,478 on July 5, 2018, and the remaining $2,883 was paid using tax credits applied from other tax periods for a total of $122,682 ($79,321 plus $40,478 plus $2,883),” auditors wrote. “The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assessed additional Federal Tax Deposit Penalties of $99,789 for the 3rd Quarter 2016 and $148,543 for the 1st Quarter 2017 employment tax returns. These penalties were later abated. These penalties resulted from a lack of management oversight.” Therefore, auditors went on to say, the IRS assessed interest and penalties a…

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Steve Cohen of Memphis Says Electoral College Designed to Hurt Black People

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Chris Butler

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, says our nation’s Electoral College was “conceived in sin” and invented to keep black people down, according to various media outlets. “This is all conceived in sin and perpetuating slavery on the American people and on the African-American people, directly,” Cohen said on “CNN Right Now” Tuesday, according to The Daily Caller. The Trump Administration waived its executive privilege when it cooperated with the investigation. Muller is required to give his report to the AG, but the White House has no right to revise or edit the report before providing it to the @HouseJudiciary. #MuellerReport pic.twitter.com/qPP1dZXyX2 — Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) March 19, 2019 “We need to give the people who understand from town halls, like Elizabeth Warren had in Memphis on Sunday and in Jackson, and I think today in Birmingham, the opportunity to vote. And as Sen. Warren said, this doesn’t give the people in New York and Chicago and Los Angeles the right to decide who wins. It gives everybody that’s not in one of the — the targeted states in the Electoral College the opportunity to have their vote count.” In a separate article, Breitbart quoted Cohen as saying “the country is different than…

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US Hits Iran With New Sanctions While Pompeo Visits Lebanon

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

The Trump administration hit Iran with new sanctions on Friday while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was denouncing Iran’s growing influence on a visit to Lebanon. The Treasury Department said the sanctions target 31 Iranian scientists, technicians and companies affiliated with Iran’s Organization for Defense Innovation and Research, which had been at the forefront of the country’s former nuclear weapons program. Officials said those targeted continue to work in Iran’s defense sector and form a core of experts who could reconstitute that program. Fourteen people, including the head of the organization, and 17 subsidiary operations are covered by the sanctions. The sanctions freeze any assets that those targeted may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from any transactions with them. But, officials say the move will also make those targeted “radioactive internationally” by making people of any nationality who do business with them subject to U.S. penalties under so-called secondary sanctions. U.S. secondary sanctions apply to foreign businesses and individuals and can include fines, loss of presence in the American economy, asset freezes and travel bans. Officials said the threat of such sanctions will significantly limit the ability of those designated to travel outside of Iran, participate in research…

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Overwhelmed ICE Facilities Forced to Release 100,000 Illegal Aliens in Past Three Months

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

by Jason Hopkins ICE detainment centers have become so overwhelmed with illegal aliens that the agency has been forced to release over 100,000 migrant family members in the past three months. While speaking to reporters on Thursday, Nathalie Asher, a senior official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, revealed that her agency has had to reallocate resources as it deals with a “crushing” surge of illegal aliens on the country’s southern border. ICE has not only been forced to reduce its activity in the interior of the U.S., but the agency’s overcrowded detainment centers have released 107,000 migrant family members in the past three months, averaging more than 1,000 illegals a day. “What you’re looking at is our interior arrests have been affected,” Asher said, explaining why ICE arrests have dropped in the past few months. She said her agency is redirecting manpower to their first priority: “addressing what has been occurring and continues to occur at an alarming rate at the border.” ICE arrests have dropped 12 percent between Oct. 1 and Dec. 29 of last year, according to the agency’s latest statistics released Thursday. Agents arrested 34,546 during this time period. At the same time, an overburdened ICE…

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Tennessee Tax Revenues Exceed February Budget Estimates

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Chris Butler

Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter has announced that Tennessee tax revenues exceeded budgeted estimates in February, according to a state press release. Overall February revenues were $953.8 million, which is $68.9 million more than the state received in February 2018 and $39.9 million more than the budgeted estimate. The growth rate for February was 7.79 percent, the press release said. “The state experienced sound growth in its two largest contributors to the state’s tax base, state sales and use tax revenues and franchise and excise tax revenues, compared to last February,” the press release quoted McWhorter as saying. “All other revenues combined also exceeded the state’s budgeted estimate. On a year-to-date basis, state revenue collections are well positioned to finish the fiscal year ahead of our budgeted estimates. Typically, more than one half of our corporate revenues for the year are accounted for in the months of April through June; however, due to the volatile nature of these taxes we will remain cautiously optimistic and continue to manage conservatively.” On an accrual basis, February is the seventh month in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. General fund revenues exceeded the budgeted estimates in the amount of $40.4 million…

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James Comey in Op-Ed Says He Doesn’t Care What Investigation Uncovers

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

by Chuck Ross James Comey claimed in an op-ed Thursday that he does not care one way or the other whether special counsel Robert Mueller finds evidence that President Donald Trump conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election or obstructed the FBI’s collusion probe. But the claim, which Comey made in The New York Times, is at odds with the former FBI director’s testimony about his actions shortly after being fired by Trump in May 2017. Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017 that he leaked memos he wrote after conversations with Trump in order to force the appointment of a special counsel. “I asked a friend of mine to share the content of a memo with the reporter, I didn’t do it myself for a variety of reasons, but I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel,” Comey testified June 8, 2017. Comey instructed his friend, Daniel Richman, to give the Times a memo he wrote about a conversation he had with Trump on Feb. 14, 2017. Comey claimed Trump asked him to shut down an investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Comey’s ploy…

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Hamilton County’s UnifyEd Officially Expands Into Political Arena

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

A Hamilton County education advocacy organization seems to want to have it both ways – as a education reform nonprofit – and as a political action committee. Hamilton County education advocacy group UnifiEd says it wants to make sure every class has a “great teacher,” achieve “universal excellence by guaranteeing equal opportunity to all students,” get the community to support public education by increasing transparency and accountability, and prioritize public school funding, according to its website. Those sound like lofty goals. However, Hamilton County Board of Education members Joe Smith and Rhonda Thurman last May accused UnifiEd of politicizing the district’s desegregation debate, the Chattanooga Times Free Press said. The spat began with the board members speaking out against UnifiEd’s APEX Project.The project suggests the school system increase integration by redrawing attendance zones and providing transportation options to other schools, among other options, Thurman said. UnifiEd fired back at Smith and Thurman, the Times Free Press said: “These school board members’ stance and rhetoric is especially concerning given the long history of segregation in Hamilton County schools,” read a statement from UnifiEd in response. UnifiEd has pushed for cultural competency training, which has already been taking place in Williamson and Knox counties,…

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Unemployment Jumps, Minnesota Loses 8,800 Jobs During Walz’s First Full Month

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development, or DEED, released its monthly jobs report Thursday, and the results weren’t good for Gov. Tim Walz’s first full month in office. According to the report, Minnesota lost 8,800 seasonally adjusted jobs in February, and the unemployment rate climbed from 3 percent to 3.1 percent, compared to a national unemployment rate of 3.8 percent. February 2019 saw 1,364 fewer jobs than February 2018 and was the first month of annual job decline since July 2010. Of the 11 major industries, seven saw job declines, with construction losing the most at 3,800 fewer jobs. “The most significant decline this month was in construction, losing 3,800 jobs—not shocking given the brutal February we had,” DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said in a news release. “Along with that, we know that Minnesota faces dwindling labor force growth—we can’t have job gains without people to fill the positions.” The trade, transportation, and utilities industry dropped 3,000 jobs, while education and health care lost 2,300 jobs, and manufacturing lost 1,600. The largest gain was recorded in the professional and business services industry with 1,300 new jobs, followed by 1,000 new jobs in financial activities, and 400 new jobs in…

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State House Subcommittee Allows Businesses Receiving Taxpayer Funds to Continue to Determine What Becomes Public Information by Claiming ‘Trade Secret’

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A bill that would have shed light on taxpayer funded payments by Tennessee state and local governments to private entities was killed at its first stop in the House Public Service & Employees Subcommittee. By an obvious voice vote on HB 0370, Chairman Bob Ramsey (R-Maryville) ruled that the Nays prevailed. In his introduction of the bill, Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville) told the subcommittee members, “The intent of this bill is to require disclosure – to shine a light, if you will – on what our government entities are paying for goods and services.” Representative Daniel told the committee, “I would submit that transparency and accountability in government instills public trust in government.” “However, vague and broad exceptions to the (Tennessee) Public Records Act concerning what a private entity might deem to be trade secrets or confidential information can obscure information concerning benefits that are conveyed by government entities to these privately-owned recipients,” continued Daniel. To clarify, Daniel emphatically stated, “This bill would not act on or touch such information” that may actually be confidential and disclosed by the private entity in connection with receiving government payments, benefits or properties. “It is we,” Daniel fervently stated, emphasizing…

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Sherrod Brown Lashes Out at Trump, Calls Wall ‘Vanity Project’

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Anthony Gockowski

National Senate Democrats released a report Monday showing that President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration could divert $112 million in funding away from military projects in Ohio. According to The Columbus Dispatch, the cuts could impact a $61 million plan for a new building for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Other cuts could include $8.8 million in funding just to relocate the main gate at Youngstown Air Reserve Station. Projects like a $7.4 million machine gun range at Camp James A. Garfield, and a $15 million hangar at Toledo Express Airport were also on the list. Morgan Rako, spokeswoman for Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH-10), noted that the “list does not indicate which projects specifically will have delayed funding, if any.” She also pointed out that Trump’s fiscal year 2020 budget proposal actually includes $121 million in funding for the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base intelligence center. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), however, claimed that Trump is “hurting military missions by taking money away from Ohio military installations to pay for his vanity project.” “President Trump claims he wants to help workers and support our military, yet his actions tell a different story,” Brown said in…

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GM Announces Jobs, Electric Vehicle After Trump Criticism

March 23, 2019March 22, 2019 Admin

Less than a week after a series of critical tweets from the president over an Ohio plant closure, General Motors is announcing plans to add 400 jobs and build a new electric vehicle at a factory north of Detroit. The company says it will spend $300 million at its plant in Orion Township, Michigan, to manufacture a Chevrolet vehicle based on the battery-powered Bolt. GM wouldn’t say when the new workers will start or when the new vehicle will go on sale, nor would it say if the workers will be new hires or come from a pool of laid-off workers from the planned closings of four U.S. factories by January. The company also announced plans Friday to spend about another $1.4 billion at U.S. factories with 300 more jobs but did not release a time frame or details. The moves come after last weekend’s string of venomous tweets by President Donald Trump condemning GM for shutting its small-car factory in Lordstown, Ohio, east of Cleveland. During the weekend, Trump demanded that GM reopen the plant or sell it, criticized the local union leader and expressed frustration with CEO Mary Barra. GM spokesman Dan Flores would not answer questions about…

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WCS Board Member on White Privilege Training: ‘Everyone, Including Dr. Looney, Are Not Happy with the Training and It Will Not Be Used Anymore’

March 23, 2019March 23, 2019 Chris Butler

Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney and other school system officials are none too pleased with the “Cultural Competency” training videos he and district officials have imposed on teachers that preach “white privilege.” This, according to a statement School Board member Jay Galbreath made on Facebook Friday. On top of that, school system officials have also cancelled the Southern Poverty Law Center workshop that teachers were scheduled to attend in May. This statement was only one part of a public dialogue Galbreath had with Williamson County Commissioner Barbara Sturgeon on her professional Facebook page Friday about this “white privilege” training. Galbreath is apparently telling more to Sturgeon than he and other school board members would tell The Tennessee Star each time we’ve asked. Sturgeon began the conversation Wednesday by posting a Star article. That article said Looney failed to show he got the Tennessee Department of Education’s legal approval to carry out this “Cultural Competency” training. In her post, Sturgeon asked her constituents to call their school board members and Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s office to discuss the matter. On Friday, the third day of the public dialogue conducted on social media, Galbreath said the following: “Barb Sturgeon Everyone, including Dr. Looney, are not happy…

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