Day: May 3, 2019

Mike Looney Leaving Williamson County Schools Post for Job as Superintendent of Fulton County, Georgia Schools

Laura Baigert

  In a special-called meeting of the Fulton County Schools Board of Education, it was a unanimous decision of the seven-member board for current Williamson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael “Mike” Looney to assume the position of Superintendent of Fulton County Schools. It was announced by Fulton County Schools (FCS) during a public event on April 17 that Looney was the single finalist for the position of Superintendent after conducting a national search. With that announcement, FCS began promoting Looney with a document called a “fact sheet,” highlighting his leadership experience, results in teaching and learning and providing links to background articles. The FCS district, as Georgia’s fourth largest, has more than 95,000 students, 7,500 teachers, 105 schools and more than 14,000 employees, according to the district’s website. Fulton County encompasses Atlanta, however, Atlanta maintains a separate school system which physically bisects the FCS district. Coming from Williamson County Schools (WCS) that is less than half the size of FCS with 40,000 students and 48 schools, the move will be a big one for Looney and will put an end to the most recent controversy surrounding the WCS 10-year Superintendent. On March 6, The Tennessee Star broke the story that…

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Commentary: Sanctuary Laws and the Death of E Pluribus Unum

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by Brian Lonergan   For nearly a quarter of a millennium, the United States of America has grown and prospered under the principle of e Pluribus Unum, or “out of many, one.” From all our diverse origins, we unite under a common set of beliefs, agree to live under the same laws, and show respect for our institutions of government. It is a system that has allowed us to become an enduring superpower and an inspiration for other nations. Today, these noble, time-tested, and highly successful beliefs are under assault. “Sanctuary” laws that shield illegal aliens may have the veneer of compassion, but their implementation is setting the stage for confrontations between federal and local law enforcement officers with conflicting orders. The short-term result could be dead or wounded officers. In a broader context, these laws raise the specter of a constitutional crisis and a breakdown of social order. Sanctuary laws are an existential threat to America and need to end. The latest example comes from New York, one of the “leaders” in the race to be the most recalcitrant sanctuary state in the republic. There, the State Office of Court Administration recently barred officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs…

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Cohen Says Barr ‘Deserves No Respect’ While Using Chicken Statue, KFC Chicken Bucket to Mock Attorney General For Not Attending House Judiciary Committee Hearing

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) his upped the ante with his rhetoric by mocking Attorney General William Barr, whom he called a “chicken” — and the Democrat held up a chicken statue and ate fried chicken for effect. Breitbart reported on the tirade at a press conference by the Memphis congressman. The remarks came after Barr said he would not attend a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report showing there was no collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice. #ChickenBarr won’t be appearing before @HouseJudiciary tomorrow. The Attorney General shouldn’t be afraid of taking questions from counsel or members. Contemptible behavior. Fortunately, we have subpoenas ready. pic.twitter.com/a4QecbqcHN — Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) May 1, 2019 The Commercial Appeal reported that Cohen brought the chicken statue and a KFC bucket to the hearing. Barr reportedly refused to attend the hearing because House Democrats demanded that staff attorneys, in addition to lawmakers, be allowed to question Barr over his summary of the Mueller report — a condition that Barr refused to comply with. Before the morning hearing started, however, Cohen ate the chicken in his KFC bucket, Fortune reported. Regarding his analogy, Cohen said in a press release, “The…

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Alabama Rep Argues for Abortion Access: ‘Kill Them Now’ Or ‘Kill Them Later’

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by Grace Carr   Democratic Alabama state Rep. John Rogers is facing criticism after he advocated for abortion access and said that unwanted babies should be killed now or they’ll end up in the electric chair. “Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later,” Rogers said Tuesday in a debate on a state abortion bill, arguing the decision to continue a pregnancy or have an abortion should be left to women. “You bring them in the world unwanted, unloved, you send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now or you kill them later,” Rogers said. Alabama State Rep. John Rogers (D) on abortion: “Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later. You bring them in the world unwanted, unloved, you send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now or you kill them later” pic.twitter.com/dxPg6X759h — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) May 1, 2019 “It ought to be a woman’s choice,” Rogers said. “I’m not about to be the male telling a woman what to do with her body,” he said, adding that “she has a right to make a decision herself.” “This is stomach…

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Commentary: To Avoid a Future Gas Tax, Infrastructure Must Be Rebuilt Now

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by Jeffrey A. Rendall   Think about it. How many times have you driven down the road and thought, ‘Gee, someone had to pay a lot of money to build this?’ Or used the restroom in a public place and pondered, ‘When I flush the toilet, where does it all go?’ Here’s thinking hardly anyone — maybe outside of a civil engineer — even gives such scenarios a second thought. Here in western civilization, everyone takes it for granted when they switch on the faucet that clean and potable water will emerge and driving over a bridge or passing through a tunnel that it won’t collapse on them. Over the years lots of smart people ensured that everything works properly for us…or they would’ve lost their jobs (and been sued!). But even the most well-conceived systems require maintenance, and they’ll eventually wear out and need replacement or expansion. The timeless creations of Ancient Rome didn’t last forever. Here in America the decay is noticeable in many places. President Donald Trump campaigned on upgrading the country’s infrastructure and made it a central pillar of his “Make America Great Again” platform. As a lifelong builder of big beautiful things, Trump appreciates the…

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Would-Be Builder of Border Wall Ready to Do ‘Impossible’

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by Rachel del Guidice   COOLIDGE, Arizona—The vice president of a family-owned construction company says his firm is competing for one of the nation’s most talked-about contracts because its leaders believe they can do what many say can’t be done. “Two years ago, when the president said he wanted to build a wall [from] sea to sea … many people said, ‘It cannot be built, it won’t be built,’” Grant Fisher, vice president of Fisher Industries, told The Daily Signal in an interview. But “build the impossible,” Fisher said, is “what we do.” Fisher said his company’s $3.3 billion proposal to the Department of Homeland Security is to construct 218 miles of border fence, plus roads and related technology, by June 2020. The work would be in 11 sectors, ranging from 2 miles near Tucson, Arizona, to 46 miles near El Paso, Texas, according to the proposal. The fence would use bollards, which are upright steel posts usually placed along roads and parking lots to block or control traffic. Fisher said his family’s company, established in the ’60s, found a solution allowing construction of a mile of steel fence per day along the southern border. “This system includes the physical…

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An Unusual Day Marks the State Legislature’s Adjournment from the 2019 Session of the 111th General Assembly

Laura Baigert

After two very long days of Floor sessions, the State Senate and House of Representatives completed their business and adjourned from the 2019 session of the 111th General Assembly Thursday. The Speaker of each House appointed two committees to inform the other House and the Governor that their business had been completed and they were ready to adjourn from the first regular session of the 111th General Assembly at about quarter past 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 2. Over the course of the last two days of the session, there were long periods of recess as each chamber waited on the other to catch up or play games. As the House was pushing to complete their business, the Senate took a break for some entertainment by way of a mock game show called “Capitol Jeopardy.” All in good fun, five Senators dressed up as and imitated behaviors of fellow members of the Senate as they answered questions, Jeopardy style, in the categories of People, Aliases, Leadership, History, and Gen Sub. After completing about half the board of questions, the five “actors” changed their costumes to portray another five Senators. Sample answers and questions include: This senator is known for his…

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After More Than a Thousand Fake Families Found, Trump Administration to Begin DNA Testing Illegal Border-Crossers

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by Jason Hopkins   The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon begin on-the-spot DNA testing of migrants apprehended at the southern border, officials said Wednesday. The pilot program, which is expected to start as soon as the coming week, will take place at two different locations on the U.S.-Mexico border and last for several days. The so-called Rapid DNA test consists of a cheek swab that can yield results within 90 minutes. The DNA results will be used to verify whether apprehended migrants are telling the truth when they claim to be part of a family unit. The program, officials noted, will be voluntary and the results are only used to verify familial relationships — not to prosecute immigrants who aren’t involved in smuggling. “This is an unprecedented step forward in our investigative process and techniques,” a DHS officials said to reporters during a Wednesday conference call. The upcoming pilot project comes as a surging number of “fraudulent families” are arriving at the U.S. southern border. Border Patrol identified more than 3,000 fake family cases in the past six months. DHS officials noted a 315 percent increase in the number of adults and children fraudulently posing as “family units”…

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Trump Defends Clinicians’ Right to Refuse to Do Abortions

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  The Trump administration on Thursday moved to protect the rights of clinicians who object to participating in abortions with a regulation intended to safeguard those with religious and moral objections. President Donald Trump made the announcement during a speech in the White House Rose Garden to mark the National Day of Prayer. “Just today we finalized new protections of conscience rights for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, teachers, students and faith-based charities,” Trump said. “They’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.” The conscience rule was a priority for religious conservatives who are a key part of Trump’s political base, but some critics fear it will become a pretext for denying medical care to LGBT people. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the rule requires hospitals, universities, clinics and other institutions that receive funding from federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to certify that they comply with some 25 federal laws protecting conscience and religious rights. Most of these laws and provisions address medical procedures such as abortion, sterilization and assisted suicide. Clinicians and institutions would not have to provide, participate in, pay for, cover or make referrals for procedures they object to on moral…

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Attorney General William Barr Skips House Hearing

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  Attorney General William Barr skipped a House hearing Thursday on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia report, escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and President Donald Trump’s Justice Department. Barr’s decision, made after a disagreement with a House committee over questioning, came the day the department also missed a committee deadline to provide it with a full, unredacted version of Mueller’s report and its underlying evidence. In all, it’s likely to prompt a vote on holding Barr in contempt and possibly the issuance of subpoenas, bringing House Democrats and the Trump administration closer to a prolonged battle in court. As the hearing opened, lawmakers faced an empty chair with a place card set for Barr. Democratic members of the committee had fun with the spectacle, placing a prop chicken by Barr’s microphone – to underscore their contention that he was afraid to appear – and jokingly looking under the desk to make sure he wasn’t there. Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York said that if Barr doesn’t provide the committee “with the information it demands and the respect that it deserves, Mr. Barr’s moment of accountability will come soon enough.” Republicans were not amused by the antics or…

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Dem Candidate for Ohio’s Amherst City Council Shares Picture of Gorillas as ‘Album Cover’ for ‘Local Rappers’

Anthony Gockowski

  A Democratic candidate for Amherst City Council’s Fourth Ward seat is facing accusations of racism ahead of the May 7 primary. Candidate David Kovacs posted a picture to his personal Facebook page of an anti-poaching ranger in the Congo standing in front of two gorillas. It was Kovacs’ caption of the photo, however, that drew criticism. “To all local rappers. I found your album cover,” Kovacs said, prompting criticism from his competitor, Andrew Flynn. “I found the screenshot to be insensitive. It’s unfortunate that this was posted. I found it hard to understand the rationale of keeping [the post] up,” Flynn told The Morning Journal. Kovacs maintains that he simply thought the photo would make a “cool album cover,” and criticized people who might find it racist. “No, I don’t see that. But I can see how someone who has those thoughts in their head might think that,” he told The Chronicle. “Also, I know two rappers and they’re both white.” He then issued a statement to local media outlets after they began to pick up the story and questioned “the motivation of anyone that would send this.” “I would also like to point out that their thought process…

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Mark Meadows Refers Nellie Ohr to DOJ for Investigation

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by Chuck Ross   North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows referred Nellie Ohr, a former Fusion GPS contractor, to the Justice Department for criminal investigation on Wednesday. In a letter to Attorney General William Barr first reported by The Hill, Meadows alleged that Ohr made false statements to Congress on Oct. 19 about contacts she had with Justice Department officials regarding ongoing investigations, as well as about her research into alleged Russian organized crime figures. Ohr worked as a contractor for Fusion GPS, the firm behind the Steele dossier, from late 2015 through September 2016. Her husband is Bruce Ohr, the Justice Department official who served as dossier author Christopher Steele’s back channel to the FBI. Meadows is not accusing Ohr of lying about her work with Fusion or her contacts with Steele. Instead, the Republican pointed to Ohr’s claim in her interview that she “would not have any knowledge of what [was] going on in an ongoing investigation” at the Justice Department and that she did not have “any knowledge of the Department of Justice’s investigations on Russia.” Ohr also denied that she provided information from her research into Russian organized crime figures and Donald Trump to anyone outside of…

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DFL State Rep Supports Allowing Minnesota Prisoners to Vote

Anthony Gockowski

  A DFL state representative revealed during a recent debate on the Minnesota House floor that he supports allowing incarcerated individuals to vote from prison. “I actually am looking forward to a bill or amendment … that would put Minnesota in line with states like Vermont and Maine that actually allow individuals who are locked up to vote. So I look forward to the day when we have that bill on the floor to debate it,” said Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL-Minneapolis), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Elections. The comments were made during a Tuesday debate on the omnibus state government and veterans and military affairs finance bill, a massive spending bill that would draw $1.2 billion from the state’s general fund during the next biennium. Specifically, the House was debating an amendment put forward by Rep. Jim Nash (R-Waconia) that would have removed language on elections from the omnibus bill. He argued that election measures typically receive their own bill. “We have one of the most hyper-partisan elections bills you have ever seen,” Nash added. Dehn’s position that prisoners should be granted the right to vote is supported by some Democratic presidential candidates, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Sanders…

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Ohio Bill Would Allow Schools to Teach the ‘Humanity of the Unborn Child’

Anthony Gockowski

  A Republican-backed bill making its way through the Ohio House would require the Ohio Department of Health and the state’s board of education to develop an instructional program that teaches “the humanity of the unborn child.” Each school district would then have the option of teaching the program or crafting its own instructional materials, which must “describe the unborn child in two-week gestational periods,” according to State Rep. Niraj Antani (R-Montgomery County), lead sponsor of the bill. House Bill 90 explicitly states that its goal is to provide “information about the humanity of an unborn child” and achieve “an abortion-free society.” The bill would also require the Department of Health to create materials with “the most readily available, accurate, scientifically verifiable, up-to-date information” that “clearly and consistently state that abortion kills a living human being.” The bill was referred to the House Health Committee, where it received its fourth hearing Tuesday. “Schools have the ability to directly influence the lives of students. Unfortunately, schools do not have the ability to teach about the importance of human life, as the rights of the unborn have been constantly under attack,” Antani said in his sponsor testimony. “My legislation would help school…

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Ilhan Omar: ‘This Is Not Going to Be the Country of White People’

Anthony Gockowski

A group of Black Lives Matter founders and communist activist Angela Davis organized a rally in support Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) Tuesday on Capitol Hill. According to Democracy Now, the rally was organized to “defend Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and to urge Congress to censure President Trump for his attacks on her.” Omar made an appearance at the rally and spoke to the crowd of supporters about the “occupant of the White House and his goons in the Republican Party.” “They can’t stand—they cannot stand—that a refugee, a black woman, an immigrant, a Muslim shows up in Congress thinking she’s equal to them,” Omar said. “The occupant of the White House, as my sister Ayanna [Pressley] likes to call him, and his allies are doing everything that they can to distance themselves and misinform the public from the monsters that they created that is terrorizing the Jewish community and Muslim community.” Omar elaborated on the comments by saying that when “we are talking about anti-Semitism, we must also talk about Islamophobia.” “It’s two sides of the same coin of bigotry,” she said. “What we are fighting for is not for the few but for the many. Every single one…

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Another Democrat Just Jumped Into the 2020 Race

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by Evie Fordham   Democratic Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet announced Thursday he is entering the crowded 2020 field for president. “We cannot be the first generation to leave less to our kids, not more. That’s why I’m running for President. Let’s build opportunity for every American and restore integrity to our government,” Bennet announced on Twitter Thursday morning. We cannot be the first generation to leave less to our kids, not more. That’s why I’m running for President. Let’s build opportunity for every American and restore integrity to our government. — Michael Bennet (@MichaelBennet) May 2, 2019 Bennet, 54, is expected to make health care a big part of his presidential platform, but he is not a supporter of Medicare for all like many of his Democratic rivals. Bennet re-introduced his legislation that would create “Medicare-X,” a public option that does not eliminate private health insurance. Health care is something that has been at the forefront of Bennet’s agenda, especially after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, something he revealed to The Colorado Independent earlier in April. “It was detected early. It is highly treatable. I have insurance through Kaiser Permanente. I feel lucky that the doctors found it. I feel…

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