Day: May 26, 2019

Tennessee Officials Announce New TennCare Fraud Arrests

Chris Butler

  Tennessee officials have announced several TennCare fraud arrests this month. • Authorities arrested a West Memphis, Ark, woman and charged her with TennCare fraud. They said this woman, Deniqueal S. Townsend, 34, falsely reported she was living in Tennessee to obtain healthcare insurance benefits from the program. The Office of Inspector General, with the assistance of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, announced the arrest. Townsend was charged in an indictment with TennCare fraud and theft of property over $10,000. District Attorney General Amy P. Weirich is prosecuting, according to a press release. • Authorities have ordered a Jefferson County woman to repay the state more than $55,000 after she was charged with TennCare fraud and theft of services. The OIG announced that Consuelo Morales, 44, was sentenced in Jefferson County, where she was accused of enrolling herself and her children in TennCare by falsely reporting her income and rental houses. Factoring in those items would have made her ineligible for TennCare, according to a press release. Morales must repay the state a total of $55,244.61 for benefits she and her family allegedly received while they were on the program. Morales was arrested in January of this year when she was charged…

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Commentary: Treat Others the Way Chick-fil-A Treats You

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by Alexandra Hudson   I sit down on a plush, blue-grey booth seat and admire the freshly cut daisies on the table in front of me. It’s a rainy day in Fort Wayne, Indiana, so the warmth of the spicy crispy chicken sandwich I prepare to sink my teeth into enlivens me. Unthinkingly, I tune in to a conversation happening at a window table to my right. “Here at Chick-fil-A, we treat our colleagues in the back kitchen as well as we treat our customers,” I overhear a supervisor sharing with a new employee. I smile to myself as I consider how this rule helps explain Chick-fil-A’s wild success. The ethos that permeates the restaurant—one where all are treated with equal respect and kindness—must be the reason for the unfailing joy that all employees, from management to servers, embody. It also explains the fierce customer loyalty, a group in which I include myself. “Can I offer you some fresh-ground pepper for your waffle fries?” a middle-aged woman with a bright smile catches my eye and asks me, temporarily suspending my eavesdropping. Intrigued by what I overheard the supervisor saying to the new employee, I decided to dig deeper into the…

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Legislation Would Require Paper Ballots for Future Elections in Ohio

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by Todd DeFoe   An Akron lawmaker wants Ohio to start using paper ballots for its future elections. House Bill 204 would prohibit counties from acquiring so-called direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines or any marking devices or automatic tabulating equipment that does not use a paper ballot. “There are many benefits to switching to paper ballots, and Ohio should consider switching to them,” state Rep. Tavia Galonski, D-Akron, said in testimony to the House State and Local Government Committee. “In a time where there are fears of voting machine hacking, election experts are advocating for off-line voting.” “For one, paper ballots are immune to computer hacking, there is no need for backup ballots to perform audits, and they are much cheaper than computer ballots,” Galonski said. According to Ballotpedia.org, 18 states use paper ballots. Other states used a combination of voting methods, including DRE machines with and without a paper trail. Democrats, in particular, have made election security a priority in the wake of the 2016 election. In an unrelated move, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, joined 37 senators to introduce the Election Security Act, which proponents say aims to combat foreign interference and improve election security. It would,…

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Illegal Immigrant Arrested After Impregnating 11-Year-Old Girl, Likely to be Deported

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by Molly Prince   An illegal immigrant from Guatemala was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, after he allegedly impregnated his 11-year-old girlfriend. Carlos Jacinto Cobo-Perez, 20, admitted to investigators that he had sex with the girl near her elementary school, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Phoenix Police on May 18. Cobo-Perez’s relationship with the girl was revealed after her mother noticed a hickey on her daughter’s neck in Nov. 2018, reported The Arizona Republic. Cobo-Perez confessed the relationship a month later during an interview with police. He acknowledged that he knew her age and that the relationship was wrong. Cobo-Perez subsequently stated that he would end contact with the girl. However, the girl was taken to Phoenix Children’s Hospital on May 17 where a pregnancy test returned a positive result. “He called me last Friday crying, telling me he got his girlfriend pregnant and I didn’t believe it,” a friend of Cobo-Perez told FOX-5. “She really loved him with all her heart, but her parents would not let her see him.” The girl’s parents provided the Moon Valley Justice Court a letter that Cobo-Perez sent to the girl where he explained that he could go to jail…

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Buttigieg Tells Jewish Leaders That US Should ‘Guide’ Israel Away from ‘Harmful’ Policies

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by Matthew M. Miller   Democratic 2020 candidate and mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg told a group of Jewish leaders, Thursday that the U.S. should “guide” Israel away from “harmful” policies. “The right approach comes about when you have an ally or a friend [who] is taking steps that you think are harmful and you put your arm around your friend and try to guide them somewhere else. That’s part of how our alliance works. And I think American leadership is needed, in particular, with respect to our ally Israel at a moment like this” Buttigieg said to a group of more than 40 prominent Jewish religious and political leaders. The event was hosted in the D.C. offices of Jewish communications firm Bluelight Strategies on Thursday. Among those present were prominent Jewish activists, political and community leaders including “former Mideast peace negotiator Amb. Dennis Ross, Executive Director of the Washington Institute Rob Satloff, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Democratic pollster Mark Mellman and Alan Gross, the former USAID contractor who was detained in Cuba for five years,” according to The Times of Israel. During the meeting, Buttigieg reportedly expressed concerns with…

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Judge Stops Mississippi Abortion Law: ‘Smacks of Defiance’

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by Mary Margaret Olohan   Judge Carlton Reeves issued a preliminary injunction stopping the passage of a Mississippi abortion law Friday banning the procedure after a heartbeat can be detected. Reeves, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, reportedly expressed frustration Tuesday over the bill’s lack of exceptions in cases of incest and rape, reported CNN. He said the bill “threatens immediate harm to women’s rights, especially considering most women do not seek abortion services until after 6 weeks,” according to The Hill. “This injury outweighs any interest the state might have in banning abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat,” he wrote. The judge said the bill banning abortions after a heartbeat can be detected “smacks of defiance,” according to The Hill. Reeves also stopped the passage of a 15-week abortion ban in 2018. The move comes as Missouri, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Ohio enacted restrictive abortion legislation in the past year. Georgia and Alabama passed restrictive abortion legislation in 2019. Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a “fetal heartbeat bill” in March that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2020, banning most abortions in Georgia after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The bill makes exceptions in…

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Commentary: Seven Stats on Per-Pupil Spending in US Schools from the New Census Report

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by Joe Carter   Earlier this week the US Census Bureau released a report that reveals how much US school districts spend per-pupil. Here are seven figures from the report you should know: The amount spent per-pupil for public elementary and secondary education (pre-kindergarten through 12th grade) for all 50 states and the District of Columbia increased by 3.7 percent to $12,201 per pupil during the 2017 fiscal year, compared to $11,763 per-pupil in 2016, according to new tables released today by the US Census Bureau. The top five school systems with the largest enrollment were New York City (984,462), Los Angeles (633, 621), Chicago (378,199), Miami-Dade County, FL (357,249), and Clark County, NV (326,953). Of the 100 largest school systems based on enrollment, the five school systems with the highest spending per pupil in 2017 were New York City School District in New York ($25,199), Boston City Schools in Massachusetts ($22,292), Baltimore City Schools in Maryland ($16,184), Montgomery County School District in Maryland ($16,109), and Howard County School District in Maryland ($15,921) Maryland had four of the top 10 school systems school districts with the highest spending per pupil. The public school systems that received the highest percentage of…

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No Gas Tax Increase for Minnesota

Anthony Gockowski

  An omnibus transportation budget bill is on its way to Gov. Tim Walz’s desk without any gas tax increase. After clearing the DFL-controlled House Friday evening, the bill passed out of the Senate later Friday night in a 54-13 vote. It’s official…no gas tax increase in Minnesota. Senate just passed transportation bill after House passed earlier. On its way to the governor. pic.twitter.com/Yk81S8lq3j — Tom Hauser (@thauserkstp) May 25, 2019 The transportation bill was one of 13 bills state lawmakers passed during their marathon 21-hour special session that wrapped up Saturday morning just before 7 a.m. “This year we drove down the cost of health care, gave tax relief to the middle class, made historic investments in education, and funded roads and bridges. This is a budget that all Minnesotans can be proud of,” Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa) said Saturday morning. “This year we drove down the cost of healthcare, gave tax relief to the middle class, made historic investments in education, and funded roads and bridges. This is a budget that all Minnesotans can be proud of.” #mnleg pic.twitter.com/IiBzkg1Og0 — Paul Gazelka (@paulgazelka) May 25, 2019 Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson), chair of the Senate Transportation Finance…

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North Carolina Governor Under Fire for Proposing Freezing School Voucher Program

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by Joshua Nelson   A billboard campaign in North Carolina is taking aim at Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper after his announcement proposing freezing a scholarship program that has benefited minority students—more than 30 percent of which are African-American. The billboard says the governor is “failing when it comes to helping minority students” and encourages residents to call Cooper to reverse his decision. A group called the Job Creators Network launched the campaign on May 15 following Cooper’s recent budget proposal that included halting the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program, a state voucher system that gives up to $4,200 to children from low-income households to attend a private school of their choice. The Job Creators Network is a nonpartisan organization that educates business owners, entrepreneurs, and employees on government policies they deem harmful to “Main Street America.” As a former benefactor of a school voucher program, Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the group, has been outspoken against Cooper’s decision. “One of our members who lives in North Carolina made me aware of [Cooper’s decision],” Ortiz said in an interview with The Daily Signal. “And again, because it is the kind of a personal thing with something like this where scholarships…

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Rep. Jim Jordan Believes Democrats Want to Stop Trump at Any Cost

Zachery Schmidt

  Ohio Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-4) thinks Democrats will do anything to stop President Donald Trump. Jordan defended the president after Nancy Pelosi and Trump made comments about each other this week, explaining in a Friday Twitter thread how the Democrats are committed to stopping the president at any cost. “Democrats are engaged in presidential obstruction. They’re so desperate to stop the President that they won’t help the country. The President’s had enough! Can’t blame him,” Jordan tweeted. Democrats are engaged in presidential obstruction. They're so desperate to stop the President that they won't help the country. The President's had enough! Can't blame him. (1/7) — Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) May 24, 2019 The Ohio representative explained how the Democrats were trying to stop the President. “Congress has a legitimate constitutional role to conduct oversight of the executive branch. But that’s not what the Democrats are doing. They’re digging into the President’s personal life from BEFORE he was a candidate. There can only be one reason to do this: POLITICS.” Then, Jordan compared how the Republican-controlled Congress acted compared to a Democratic-controlled Congress. Compare that to what the Democrats are doing. They're going after: -The President's PERSONAL tax returns-The President's PERSONAL…

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Tennessee Legislature Addresses Public Records Laws in 2019 Session

Chris Butler

  This week The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government released a list of new public records exemptions and public records laws passed during this year’s legislative session. “Citizens can expect some bills related to public records to re-emerge when the Legislature reconvenes Jan. 14, 2020,” TCOG Executive Director Deborah Fisher wrote. “One of the more significant bills that was delayed, but attracted a lot of attention late in the session, would create a process for an injunction against a public records requester whose behavior was deemed ‘harassment,’ as well as require government entities to post ‘basic government information’ on their websites.” Among the new public records laws, as compiled by the TCOG: • The Tennessee Public Records Act now requires that “any legislation that creates an exception to the open records requirement of § 10-7-503 deeming records of public entities to be open for inspection by the public must be referred to the government operations committee, according to the rules of the house of representatives.” “The House government operations committee then is required to give a positive, neutral or negative recommendation before the legislation would continue its process through the committee system.” • A new exemption makes confidential a person’s home…

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