Day: April 24, 2019

Tullahoma Police Chief Resigns in Plea Deal Over Charge of Tampering With Evidence from Son’s Car Crash

Jason M. Reynolds

  The Tullahoma police chief resigned after entering a no contest plea Monday to a charge of tampering with evidence, WSMV reported. Paul Blackwell resigned as chief after letting go of his Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) certification as a condition of his plea agreement, which means he is no longer a certified law enforcement officer, the station said. Blackwell received a four-year sentenced suspended to probation under a deferred judgment, according to 14th Judicial District Attorney General Craig Northcott. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Susan Niland said in December 2018 that Northcott had requested the investigation, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. “The complaint stems from his office’s handling of the investigation of a motor vehicle crash involving the chief’s son in November,” Niland said. In January, Blackwell and Tullahoma Police Department Capt. George Marsh were placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, The Manchester Times said. The investigation was handled by the City of Tullahoma; TBI conducted the investigation of misconduct. Jennings Jones, DA of the 16th Judicial District, handled the prosecution after Northcott recused himself. Marsh, who resigned in February, also gave up his POST certification and will not face any…

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Sumner County Residents Accuse County Executive Anthony Holt of Abusing Eminent Domain Powers

Chris Butler

  A group of residents in rural Sumner County say County Executive Anthony Holt wants to use eminent domain to build a sewer and a sidewalk on their properties, and that puts them in peril. Financial peril. Legal peril. Even physical peril. These property owners, in the Upper Station Camp Creek area, say it’s OK for county officials to build a sewer through their properties to connect to a nearby school. But constructing a concrete sidewalk atop that sewer — that’s unacceptable, property owners told The Tennessee Star this week. County officials also refer to the sidewalk as part of a greenway. Instead of paying for these properties, county officials will instead pay for a lifetime lease to use them, property owners said. “When government decides they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, whether it is theirs’ or not, then they can come knock on your door and turn your farm into public access and you still have to pay taxes on it,” Gallatin resident Deborah Holmes said. “You have to maintain it, and you are still 100 percent responsible for it. I don’t see how that is good for me or as a homeowner.” Holmes’ neighbor, Tony…

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Commentary: Was Robert Mueller Colluding With Russia?

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by Christopher Roach   The Mueller Report was released last week. Undoubtedly it will be discussed much more than it is read. Many of the salient facts were already well-known, including Russian efforts to sow chaos and division among Americans during the 2016 presidential election using “active measures.” This sophisticated propaganda and narrative-making tools find their origins in the Soviet KGB. While some are pleased to deem President Trump a potential Russian agent because of his stated hopes for better relations with Russia and his tongue-in-cheek calls for Russia to find Hillary’s missing emails, it was clear long before last week that the Russian influence and hacking operations were not directed chiefly to aid his election. One can assume that Russia, like nearly every other observer, presumed Hillary would win. Consistent with this, the report states: “The [Russian Internet Research Agency] conducted social media operations targeted at large U.S. audiences with the goal of sowing discord in the U.S. political system.” Thus, they created fake grassroots organizations “(with names such as “Being Patriotic,” “Stop All Immigrants,” “Secured Borders,” and “Tea Party News”), purported Black social justice groups (“Black Matters,” “Blacktivist,” and “Don’t Shoot Us”), LGBTQ groups (“LGBT United”), and religious…

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Evangelical Kelly Kullberg Offers Free Bible Study Book to Help Christians Use Wisdom of Scriptures in Immigration Debate

Jason M. Reynolds

  No issue is dividing America – including Christians – more than immigration, evangelical Kelly Kullberg says. The American Association of Evangelicals (AAE) and Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration (EBI) say this division is tragic and unnecessary, when a biblical understanding of a wise welcome could heal both the Church and nation. Kullberg is founder of American Association of Evangelicals, the Veritas Forum and author of “Finding God Beyond Harvard.” Kullberg, AAE and EBI are offering a new, free, downloadable Bible study on the topic of immigration called “Wise Welcome: The Bible & Immigration.” The book can help Christians use the wisdom of scriptures in the immigration debate. Kullberg is author of “Wise Welcome: The Bible & Immigration;” co-author is Dr. James Hoffmeier, a former missionary child, refugee, legal immigrant, and Old Testament scholar and professor. The book may be downloaded from AAE’s website here. George Soros-funded “ministries” like Sojourners and Faith in Public Life help the open borders political project, but few know that the Bible does not teach open borders and blanket amnesty. It teaches discernment and “Wise Welcome,” Kullberg, a spokesperson for AAE, said in a press release. “Many people have heard the beautiful verse from Matthew 25,…

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Poll: Young Voters Overwhelmingly Democratic, But Young Republicans Are Increasingly Conservative

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by Paul Ingrassia   Young Republican and Democrat voters are united in their dissatisfaction with older politicians and overwhelmingly believe the country is heading in the wrong moral direction. Those were some of the findings of the new Spring 2019 Harvard IOP Youth Poll, which was released Monday in anticipation of Tuesday’s “youth-focused” CNN town halls featuring a number of 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, including South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. The results found that young voters are more energized and politically engaged for 2020 than in 2016. Forty-three percent of 18-29-year-olds, for example, said they were likely to vote in their state’s primary, a 7 percent increase from 2015. The poll also found that “The 2020 electorate is shaping up to be more progressive than 2016 on a range of social and economic policy related issues, including on health care, poverty, and trade policy.” Since 2015, the number of younger voters who agreed with the statement, “government should do more to curb climate change, even at the expense of economic growth” rose a whopping 14 percent to 46 percent agreement.…

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Commentary: Embarrassing Gaffes Continue to Show Media’s Ignorance of Religion

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by Jarret Stepman   It’s become increasingly clear that many in our nation’s elite media know little to nothing about religion—Christianity in particular. This is a disturbing trend for the future of our country. A long list of theological gaffes by The New York Times over the years was recently catalogued in an insightful New York Post editorial by Mark Hemingway. Among the Times’ errors was an article in 2013 that referred to Easter as a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection into heaven. It soon issued a correction, since Jesus did not immediately ascend to heaven after resurrection—that was weeks later. Another piece claimed that the Holy Sepulcher in Israel is where “Christians believe Jesus is buried,” even though Christians believe Jesus was resurrected and thus would not be in a tomb. And then there was the most recent blunder, in which the Times claimed that Father Jean-Marc Fournier saved a statue of Jesus from the Notre Dame fire. What Fournier actually saved was the Blessed Sacrament—which is, of course, not a statue but the bread used in Communion, believed by Catholics to be the real body of Christ. It appears that the Times struggles to understand the phrase “the body…

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Report: Ilhan Omar Attacked US Soldiers Who Died Fighting In ‘Black Hawk Down’ Operation

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by Jason Hopkins   A newly unearthed tweet shows Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar attacking the U.S. soldiers who fought and died in the Battle of Mogadishu. “In his selective memory, he forgets to also mention the thousands of Somalis killed by the American forces that day! #NotTodaySatan,” Omar wrote in a tweet in October 2017, uncovered Monday by John Rossomando of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Omar was responding to another tweet about the Battle of Mogadishu, a 1993 humanitarian operation by the U.S. military that sought to save starving Somalis by preventing food and aid from being captured by enemy combatants. The battle ultimately took the lives of 19 American soldiers and wounded 73 others, and it became the subject of the famous Hollywood movie “Black Hawk Down.” In his selective memory, he forgets to also mention the thousands of Somalis killed by the American forces that day! #NotTodaySatan https://t.co/wrFocrZymQ — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 16, 2017 Omar’s claim that “thousands of Somalis” were killed by American forces during that battle is wildly false by most expert’s estimations. Captain Haad, a representative of the Somali National Alliance, said during a 2001 interview that 133 Somali militiamen died battling…

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Amy Klobuchar Tried to Stand Out Among the Democratic Presidential Candidates in a CNN Town Hall

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by Grace Carr   Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar tried to stand apart at a CNN town hall Monday evening in Manchester, New Hampshire, emphasizing differences between herself and the slew of Democratic candidates running for president. Klobuchar repeated, “When I’m president,” angling herself as a candidate who can defeat President Donald Trump because she runs in a purple state and can win back the hearts and trust of the midwest. “I didn’t do that by selling out on my principles,” Klobuchar said, citing her three-time reelection. “It is appalling some of the things that were going on,” Klobuchar said, dodging a definitive answer about whether she supports impeachment of the president after the Mueller report dropped Thursday. “We need to have hearings in both the House and the Senate … The impeachment proceedings are up to the House,” Klobuchar added. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is non-committal on impeaching President Trump: “I’m not going to predispose things” #KlobucharTownHall https://t.co/UQwyP6fkHS pic.twitter.com/G66yFWmM24 — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 22, 2019 Democrats are divided over whether to push for Trump’s impeachment. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been a strong proponent of the move. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, cautions Democrats against such efforts. Klobuchar…

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Pete Buttigieg Supports Pathway to Citizenship for the Millions of Illegal Immigrants

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by Jason Hopkins   Democratic presidential nominee Pete Buttigieg said he supports a “pathway to citizenship” for the more than “10 million” illegal immigrants living the United States. “There are over 10 million people who are undocumented immigrants in this country who don’t fall into [the DACA] category and the reality is we can’t have comprehensive immigration reform that works unless it addresses the status for those 11 some million undocumented immigrants,” Buttigieg said Monday night during a CNN town hall forum. Buttigieg spoke highly of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, but noted that it only protects about 700,000 young illegal immigrants from deportation. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana wants to implement a measure that would give citizenship to the millions of undocumented adults living in the U.S. Eleven million is actually a low number according to other expert estimations. A Yale study, for example, put the number of illegal aliens living in the U.S around 22 million, twice as much as previous estimations. “What we need to do is make sure there is a pathway to citizenship for them too,” he said, claiming that there was broad consensus on the issue. The 37-year-old mayor…

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ISIS Claims Responsibility for More Than 300 Deaths in Sri Lanka Attacks

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by Evie Fordham   ISIS claimed responsibility Tuesday for the Easter Sunday church and hotel bombings in Sri Lanka that killed more than 300 people. The terrorist group did not provide evidence to support its claim. “The perpetrators of the attack that targeted nationals of the countries of the coalitions and Christians in Sri Lanka before yesterday are fighters from the Islamic State,” its Aamaq news agency said according to a translation by the Associated Press cited by The New York Times. At least 321 people are dead after Sunday’s attacks, reported TIME. Aamaq posted the bulletin after Sri Lankan minister of defense Ruwan Wijewardene claimed the attacks were a retaliation after 50 people were killed in mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Sri Lankan government has blamed the Easter Sunday attacks on National Thowheed Jamath, a local jihadi group. Officials also said the group received international help, according to The NYT. Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena granted wartime powers to the country’s military Monday to pursue and arrest suspects linked to the bombings. The country also blocked Facebook, Instagram and other forms of social media Sunday as it investigated the explosions. – – – Evie Fordham is a…

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Trio of Democratic Senators Introduce Environmental Justice Caucus to Fight ‘Systemic Racism’

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by Molly Prince   Three Democratic senators revealed on Earth Day that they are launching the Environmental Justice Caucus in the Senate to raise awareness and address environmental justice issue such as “systemic racism” and “discrimination.” “We cannot achieve economic justice or social justice in this country without also addressing environmental justice,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said in a statement released Monday. “The fact that communities of color, low income communities, and indigenous communities across the country disproportionately face environmental hazards and harmful pollutants on a daily basis has been ignored for far too long.” “Every American has the right to breathe safe air, drunk clean water and live on uncontaminated land regardless of their zip code, the size of their wallet and the color of their skin. However, too often that is not the case, especially for low income communities and people of color,” Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth continued. Booker, Duckworth and Democratic Delaware Sen. Tom Carper announced that the caucus will work in conjunction with the House Environmental Justice Task Force, which is comprised of members from the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Asian Pacific American Caucus. “The caucus will raise awareness of the…

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Analysis: When Tragedy Strikes, WaPo Turns Focus To The ‘Far Right’

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by Peter Hasson   The Washington Post provoked an online backlash on Monday after publishing an article that said the recent terrorist attacks targeting Christians in Sri Lanka fueled “far-right anger in the West.” The article, labeled as analysis rather than straight reporting, provided just the latest example of the Post reframing a global tragedy around the “far right.” Critics took the Post to task for making mass murder of hundreds of Christians about the “far right” and for casting skepticism on the persecution that Christians face across persecution around the world. (Pew Research Center lists Christians as the religious group most subjected to religiously motivated harassment from both state actors and non-state actors.) “To some, it was further proof that Christians in many parts of the world are under attack,” Post reporters Adam Taylor and Rick Noack wrote. National Review editor Charles Cooke tweeted in response: “For whom was it not evidence of this?” https://twitter.com/charlescwcooke/status/1120407544676192261 Additionally, the Washington Examiner’s Becket Adams wrote: “Yes, right-wing reactionaries have commented on the bombings. So have former presidents, members of Congress, athletes, actors, and so on.” “It is nothing short of astonishing that the Post published an entire article focusing on how some…

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Trump Can’t Finish the Wall Fast Enough as Apprehensions on Southern Border Top 103,000 in March

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by Robert Romano   Apprehensions on the southern border hit 103,492 in March, according to data compiled by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the highest in a decade. In 2018, apprehensions averaged about 43,424 monthly, 34,626 in 2017, 46,114 in 2016, 37,071 in 2015 and 47,436 in 2014. 2019 looks like it will be a record year, as there have already been more apprehensions through March at 422,334 than all of 2017. Amid the surge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement only has about 52,000 beds to detain people who are apprehended — which guarantees that a good number of those apprehended will have to be released. There are simply too many people coming, with not enough facilities to accommodate them and not enough judges to process them efficiently. The effect is catch-and-release. And Congress knows it. Even the limit on beds comes down to deliberate decision-making by Congress, as this was a major sticking point in the discussions on ending the government shutdown. Democrats wanted a harder limit on beds even when faced with the data of how the system was being overwhelmed. Last year, the authorization allowed for an average daily of 40,520, but President Trump has been able to…

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Half of Americans Back Stronger Role of Religion in Society

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Around half of Americans favor religion playing a greater role in U.S. society, while 18 percent oppose that idea, according to a Pew Research Center study published Monday. Despite there being a separation of church and state, religion plays a significant part in daily U.S. life: the president traditionally is sworn in using a Bible, while “In God We Trust” is printed on banknotes. France, Sweden and the Netherlands, meanwhile, posted almost opposite results: 47 percent, 51 percent and 45 percent respectively were opposed to religion playing a key role in society. Among the 27 countries surveyed in 2018, France (20 percent) and Japan (15 percent) were the countries with the lowest proportion of citizens favoring strengthening religion’s role in society. Indonesia (85 percent), Kenya (74 percent) and Tunisia (69 percent) came out as the countries most in favor of a bigger place for religion. The study did not make a distinction between different religions. In the U.S., the proportion rose to 61 percent among people aged 50 and over, but dropped to 39 percent among 18- to 29-year-olds. The study was carried out with a representative sample of at least 1,000 people in each country.        …

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Divided Supreme Court Poised to Allow Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

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by Kevin Daley   A deeply divided Supreme Court appeared ready to allow the Trump administration to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census form during a Tuesday morning argument, which was alternatively technical and heated. The Court’s divide followed the usual ideological lines. Though the case involves several complex questions, ultimately the Court’s conservatives seemed to say that the citizenship question is ordinary and appropriate for the census. “The principal purpose is to count the population, but we’ve had demographic questions on the census,” Chief Justice John Roberts said. “I don’t know how far back, but certainly it’s quite common.” “The questions go quite beyond how many people there are,” Roberts added, noting the census forms include questions touching finances and lifestyles. A coalition of Democratic cities, states, and civil rights groups sued the Trump administration after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who supervises the Census Bureau, authorized the inclusion of the citizenship question on the 2020 census form. The plaintiffs, citing the Census Bureau’s own findings, say the question will diminish non-citizen participation. As such, the plaintiffs warn that the government’s move strikes at the very heart of democracy, since population is used to apportion federal funds, seats…

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Lucas County and Dayton Seemingly Paid Up to $12,000 for Nonprofit’s ‘Welcoming’ Community Designation in Ohio

Anthony Gockowski

  Lucas County, Ohio joined the City of Dayton Tuesday as the newest member of Welcoming America’s “Certified Welcoming” program. According to the organization’s website, the “Certified Welcoming” program “formally evaluates and assesses your community’s efforts to provide an inclusive place for all.” “Candidates submit an application; complete a self-assessment; and receive an evaluative site visit and a detailed final report that identifies local strengths and provides a road map for areas of growth,” the website states, noting that the certification process generally takes between six months and a year. The “certification fee” for eligible cities is $12,000, but was discounted to $6,000 for 2019, according to the website. The “Certified Welcoming” label is valid for three years, and participating communities must continue to “meet the core criteria” listed in Welcoming America’s “Welcoming Standard.” The Lucas County commissioners were joined by a representative from Welcoming America Tuesday for a press conference to announce the designation. “When people come here, when people aspire to come here, when people work hard to come here, we are a welcoming community, and we have a certification to prove it,” Commissioner Pete Gerken said, according to The Toledo Blade. Lucas County is the fourth community…

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Tim Ryan Announces Support for Requiring 2020 Candidates to Participate in Climate Debate

Anthony Gockowski

  Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) announced Monday that he supports U.S. Youth Climate Strike’s petition to require the Democratic 2020 presidential candidates to have a debate on climate change. “I’m in! Climate change demands unprecedented action that requires our full and complete attention. This is an economic issue, a social justice issue, and a national security issue,” Ryan said on Twitter in response to the U.S. Youth Climate Strike’s request to support the debate. I’m in! Climate change demands unprecedented action that requires our full and complete attention. This is an economic issue, a social justice issue, and a national security issue. @MoveOn https://t.co/CTaJcJ16nY — Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) April 22, 2019 “Tim Ryan is now the fourth presidential candidate to come out in support for our petition and call for a climate debate. Our movement is indefinitely picking up speed, and this is all because of our grassroots. Keep signing and sharing, and we’ll get this victory,” U.S. Youth Climate Strike wrote on Twitter. https://twitter.com/usclimatestrike/status/1120466744500469760 Ryan joins 2020 candidates Jay Inslee, Julian Castro, and Mike Gravel in supporting a debate on climate change, while South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said he will “try to” support the idea. The petition itself,…

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Omar Once Claimed America Was ‘Founded by Genocide,’ Called International Terrorism ‘Avoidance Tactic’

Anthony Gockowski

  A 2017 tweet from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) was uncovered last week and shows the freshman member of Congress saying that America “was founded by genocide.” “We must confront that our nation was founded by genocide and we maintain global power through neocolonialism,” Omar wrote, linking to an op-ed she wrote for Time. Her tweet was retweeted by the Minnesota House DFL Twitter account. We must confront that our nation was founded by genocide and we maintain global power through neocolonialism. https://t.co/KAcXjqUw7u — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 17, 2017 In the article itself, Omar discussed the tragic events in Charlottesville and how to prevent it from happening again. “The solution is to educate. It is imperative we collectively overcome and make amends with history. We must confront that our nation was founded by the genocide of indigenous people and on the backs of slaves, that we maintain global power with the tenor of neocolonialism,” Omar wrote in the article. She then claimed that America’s “national avoidance tactic has been to shift the focus to potential international terrorism.” “With constant misinformation and fearmongering, it is easy to exacerbate external threats while avoiding our internal weaknesses. Our apathy has placed immense…

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High Drama as State House Eventually Passes Governor Bill Lee’s Education Savings Account Initiative

Laura Baigert

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A much-anticipated vote by the full Tennessee House of Representatives on Governor Bill Lee’s Education Savings Account (ESA) initiative ended in high drama on Tuesday, after it was moved from the second item on the agenda of the Regular Calendar to the end. From the outset of the meeting there were three to four dozen opponents to the ESA legislation in the gallery, most of whom were displaying hand-held no vouchers signs. While there were 13 amendments to the bill proposed in the House, Amendment #1, #3 and #4 were withdrawn and Amendment #2 was rolled to the heel of the amendments. The remaining amendments were largely offered by Democrats attempting to curtail the legislation. For instance, Representative Jason Powell (D-Nashville) with Amendment #5 sought to allow his county of Davidson to opt out of the legislation, saying not one of the delegation supports it. Powell questioned the constitutionality of the bill and said that the funding of Davidson County schools is under attack. “Maybe some of you are fine with the redistribution of wealth,” argued Powell of the amendment he said would shift money to other counties, “but I stand against that.” Powell said that…

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